


Toph Alone

by FanofmanyFandoms (Majorwhovian)



Series: Discovering Destiny [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Poppy and Leo can join Ozai in the terrible parents club, That's it. that's the only tag we need, Toph is a boss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:19:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28834035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Majorwhovian/pseuds/FanofmanyFandoms
Summary: This is part of a series, but each story is designed to be read as a standalone if you don't want to read everything.It's been years since Toph has seen her parents, but she always imagined reuniting with them under better circumstances. While her friends are either missing, preoccupied, or unavailable, a new law forces Toph back to Gaoling. Far away from the family she adopted, Toph must find a way to reconcile with her parents...or spend the next couple years of her life alone and on the run.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Toph/Badassery
Series: Discovering Destiny [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1917952
Comments: 22
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So far, this is my favorite story out of the "Alone" series. Toph has been so much fun to write and her story is relatable for so many people. 
> 
> Like I said, you can follow this story without reading the rest of the series, but I definitely think everything hits home better if you know the background.

_Toph,_

_We received your letter but our answer is the same. Make your decision soon._

_Poppy and Leo Beifong_

Sokka lowered the letter and folded the small parchment into a square. He tried to conceal his feelings, but he was angry. Toph’s parents had signed the letter with their names. Not _Love Mom and Dad_ , not _Miss and love you, your parents,_ Just _Poppy and Leo Beifong._ Like they were signing a business deal or a transaction receipt. 

“I’m sorry, Toph. I know that wasn’t the answer you were hoping for.”

Toph blew her bangs out of her face and leaned back in her chair. She was killing time with Sokka in the tea room while they waited for Zuko to come up from the harbor. The Fire Lord was just returning from his mission to the North Pole, and they were anxious to hear any updates on the relations between the two countries. 

And if he had found Katara. 

Suki was going to greet Zuko first and get his official report before they joined the others for supper.

Toph held her hand out and Sokka handed her the letter. Toph traced the edge of the paper before balling it up in her fist and tossing it to the ground.

“There. That’s what I think of that” Toph huffed. Sokka watched the paper roll on the floor and he sighed sadly. Toph acted indifferent to the situation, but Sokka knew it was a coping mechanism.

Toph had trouble getting into contact with her parents after the war, and once they did respond back they made it clear they were not pleased with their daughter’s actions or her association with the Fire Nation.

Toph had written them back, open to seeing them so they could smooth out their differences, but they had given her short responses with a clearly defined ultimatum. 

Cut off all ties to the Fire Nation royal family or forget any idea of ever coming back home. 

Toph understood their hesitance and clear animosity towards Zuko and Iroh. Her parents didn’t know them, after all. But the cold one-line replies hurt her deeply.

She hadn’t seen her parents in over three years. She hoped they missed her as much as she missed them, but it seemed like their pride was getting in the way. They hadn’t even honored Toph with a more elaborate explanation. 

But Toph had coped with it. She had a big brother in Zuko and a loving grandfather figure in Uncle Iroh, both of whom she considered her family. And that didn’t even cover Aang. Her partner-in-crime and best friend.

Immediately following the war, Uncle Iroh had stepped in as regent to protect Zuko who had become the target of assassinations and political plots. While the young Fire Lord had been secretly smuggled to the Southern Water Tribe until he turned 18, Toph, Aang, and Uncle Iroh had stayed back to put the Fire Nation back into some semblance of order.

Surrounded by loving family and tasked with pounding the crap out of liars and traitors alike, Toph had been happy for the first two years. She and Aang we’re nigh inseparable. Toph continued to teach Aang earthbending so he could improve his skills as the avatar. 

But that was then and this was now. Now Uncle Iroh lived in Ba Sing Se, Zuko was swamped with work and responsibilities, Sokka was an ambassador and constantly on the move, Suki was head of security at the palace and left periodically on missions with the other Kyoshi Warriors, Katara had gone missing just last month, and _Aang_...Aang had been missing for nearly a year. 

For the first time in years, the feelings of isolation started to creep back.

It felt like Toph’s support system was crumbling apart around her, and for the Blind Bandit who prided herself on her independence and being able to take care of herself, Toph hated how that was making her feel. 

“I don’t need them anyway,” Toph declared as she swung her feet back over the side of the sofa and stood up straight. “I’m doing just fine without them.” She headed to the door and stopped with her hand on the handle.

“Thank you, Sokka. Quit worrying about me. I know you’ve got a stupid look on your face right now. Cut it out; it’s too much like Katara and I can only deal with one of her.”

Sokka shook his head as Toph went out of the room. She closed the door behind her and leaned her back up against it. 

She still had family and friends around her, even if they were busy...so why did she feel abandoned? Toph shook her head, desperately wanting to drown out the hollow feeling. She had to find out if Katara had returned. She turned on her heel and headed to the throne room. 

Suki and Zuko were just coming out when Toph ran into them. To her dismay, she only picked out the vibrations of two people...not a third.

“You didn’t find her,” Toph said, immediately downcast. 

Zuko shook his head and gently squeezed Toph’s shoulder. “No, but she’s ok, Toph. I don’t know where she is, but I have to believe she’s safe. In time, she’ll come back.”

“Aang hasn’t come back,” Toph immediately pointed out. “What happens when a year goes by and you still haven’t heard from her?”

“Toph, that won’t happen” Suki interjected. 

“You don’t _know_ that!” Toph shot back. “I thought that! I thought, give it a week. He’ll be back. These temper tantrum disappearing acts never last long. Then I thought, two weeks. Then a month. Then two months. It’s almost been a year and I’m still _waiting._ ”

“Toph” Suki interrupted. Toph clamped her mouth shut. With one call of her name Toph knew what Suki meant. Zuko was already struggling with Katara’s disappearance too and she wasn’t helping. Of course he had already considered the possibility that it would be a long time before Katara came home. No need to rub it in his face.

“Sorry,” Toph mumbled. 

She heard Zuko take a deep breath. “It’s fine, Toph. It’s been a long day and I’m just ready to eat some food and go to bed. Join me for supper?”

“I’m sure Sokka’s already there,” Suki said, letting herself smile a little bit. Toph sighed and shook her head. 

“I don’t think so, Sparky. Sorry.” She wasn’t up for an evening of forced laughs and smiles. There wasn’t any good news to celebrate. 

Zuko immediately frowned at her and took a step closer. In spite of the turmoil in his own chest, Toph’s distinct downcast face bothered him. He could only tackle one issue at a time, but Toph was always a priority. 

“What happened?” he asked softly.

The years spent with Uncle and Aang had worn down some of Toph’s walls. This was her family and she didn’t feel the immediate need to hide her feelings. Especially not from Zuko. “I got another letter,” she admitted.

“Anything different?”

“The same,” Toph replied. Suki was by her side in an instant. 

“You know what I think, Toph. They don’t deserve a second more of your thought and time. You don’t need this.” Suki was angered by the callous communication from the Beifongs. With Iroh gone, Toph seemed ever more aware of the distance between her and her blood family. 

“You’re right,” Toph conceded. 

“What you _do_ need is supper. Come on. Four out of the six of us is more than we’ve had most of the time. Don’t make it three,” Suki urged. 

“Fine,” Toph agreed. This evening couldn’t be the time she picked to throw herself a pity party. Zuko was struggling and he had always been there for her. She would do her part to distract him from the depressing unsuccessful trip he had just come home from. “Just make sure they’ve cut the spice back some, Sparky. Some of us don’t like to burn our mouths off.”

Zuko nodded solemnly. “I’ve already delivered the message to the chef myself.”

The supper was more dynamic than Toph was expecting. Sokka and Suki managed to keep conversation on lighthearted topics. Toph knew how hard it must be for Sokka. Zuko wasn’t the only one hurting and worrying about Katara. 

But Sokka was putting on a good face. He always enjoyed making fun of the Fire Nation council members. He had managed to charm the entire palace staff and most of them didn’t take his criticism of their countrymen to heart anymore. In fact, most of them had started to agree with the outspoken Water Tribe man.

“Then he said, ‘we don’t have the capital available to support this kind of program.’” Sokka put on his best posh voice to imitate a noble who had been roadblocking progress on a new bill. “He said this while dressed in two layers of red silk, golden pipe in his hand, sitting in a plush chair with his purebred elk horse strapped to his silver capped carriage outside. Oh, and he was eating frosted eel caviar eggs and drinking Casanova Dew wine. Do you know how expensive that stuff is?” Sokka was going on a full blown rant. 

“It doesn’t matter if the nobles are in favor of it or not,” Zuko said. “I’m going ahead with this program - especially after what I witnessed in the North. The other nations have already agreed to full participation. Getting funding for it is the least of my worries. Approval reached King Kuei right before I left for the North.”

“Which treaty are we talking about now?” Toph asked.

“The No Child Left Behind Act,” Suki explained. 

“Ouch. Who came up with that name?” Toph smirked.

“I did,” Suki said dryly.

Toph shrugged. “I always told you to leave the nicknames to us. So what’s it about?”

Suki rolled her eyes at Toph as Zuko answered. 

“It’s a collective effort between the three nations to return orphaned and lost children back to their homelands and family throughout the world,” Zuko explained. 

“Fire Nation orphanages are bursting at the seams with children who were either born in prison camps, found on the streets, or just plain lost. Most of these children are from the Earth Kingdom,” Suki elaborated. “The plan is to legally make it so that children under the age of 16 are required to be returned to their native nation and reunite them with their families or living relatives. I proposed the idea over four months ago. It’s taken this long to get approvals from the other nations. The financial part is still a little murky at this point, but we’ll get it figured out.”

“I can’t keep track of all these,” Toph said, reaching for her glass. This wasn’t her area of expertise. Her job was to keep the royal guard in line and be the muscle behind a lot of Suki’s threats that Zuko didn’t know about. Government, ruling, treaties, and diplomacy were not her cup of tea.

Then again, it wasn’t Sokka’s either, but here he was. 

“The plan is set to eliminate a lot of the underage trafficking that has run rampant throughout the war and even past the end of it. The program is a united effort between all the nations. They will all share the financial burden to help get the children home,” Zuko continued. “Hopefully we can reunite a lot of families that were separated by the war. The agreement speeds the process along and gives the power to the assigned agencies instead of leaving it in the hands of the government.”

“Because government is evil!” Sokka proclaimed. 

"Uh, honey, you work for the government," Suki pointed out.

“How will this affect the Kyoshi Warriors?” Toph asked, quickly breezing over Sokka’s cries for anarchy. “The majority of your force is made up of orphaned girls from mixed backgrounds.”

“Children that are already legally adopted or part of a recognized organization are exempt,” Suki explained. “We’re not trying to break up established homes, blood related or not.”

Toph nodded and took a careful spoonful of her soup. It was just right. Not too spicy. 

She didn’t think much about the conversation then. Those discussions were normal and happened nearly every night. Most of it went in one ear and out the other. She didn’t concern herself with politics.

That was, until a second letter arrived just over a week later.

Zuko offered to read it and Toph was waiting impatiently in his study as Zuko opened the letter. He was silent for much too long.

“Let me guess? Another one line threat, isn’t it? You can tell me. It’s nothing new,” Toph snorted. She didn’t know why she had ever expected anything less. That part of her life was over. She was... _mostly_ happy in the Fire Nation. _She didn’t need her parents. For caring, for comfort, for closure, or anything else._ They had made it abundantly clear that they didn’t really want her, the real her, either.

“Um…” Zuko cleared his throat awkwardly. 

Toph raised an eyebrow. “Oh, come on. How bad can it be? Spit it out already, Sparky!”

“They’re... _demanding_ your return to Gaoling. If you don’t comply they’re going to send their lawyer to the capital and take legal action,” Zuko stammered out. The letter in his hand read more like a stiff legal document than a request to a family member. It was cold. Professional. And straight to the point. 

“Ha! I think they forgot what happened last time they tried to force me home. If you follow the road out of Ba Sing Se I think you’ll find two dunderheads still stuck in a metalbended crate,” Toph pointed out. She plopped down in one of the chairs and stuck her feet up on Zuko’s desk.

For once, he didn’t immediately request she take them down. 

“Toph, this is different.” 

Toph didn’t like that tone. That was the tone Zuko used in his meetings when he was trying to command the attention of the room. That was his _serious_ voice.

“How is it any different? They’ve been sending me letters for years now, Zuko. They’ve done _nothing_ before,” Toph said. There was no reason to be so worked up.

“Toph, before they didn’t have a law and the local government backing up their claim. They couldn’t touch you in the Fire Nation. Now…”

“What law?” Toph sat up and slipped her feet off the desk. Zuko actually sounded concerned.

“The No Child Left Behind Act,” Zuko said, putting the letter down. “Under it, the national governments don’t have a say in this matter. You fall under the jurisdiction and meet the requirements, Toph.”

“In english, your highness. What does that have to do with me?” Toph asked. 

“Because you’re under the age of 16 I _legally_ need to return you to your parents in Gaoling.”

 _Legally?_ Toph jumped out of the chair. “Well, what about _illegally?_ Zuko, you’re the blasted Fire Lord. If anyone can make an exception to the stupid rule, you can.”

Zuko rubbed his chin and looked back down at the letter. “I’ll try, Toph. You’re a national hero and well-known in both nations. Whichever way this goes, it’s going to have some publicity _._ It’s going to make some waves.”

“Fine, then make some waves,” Toph said. “Empty the stupid ocean if you have to. _I’m not going back._ They can’t make me. They tried once and they failed and they’re just going to fail again.”

“You’re not going anywhere, Toph,” Zuko said. _Finally_ , there was some sort of confidence in his voice again. “We’ll get it straightened out.”

“Sweet. Just tell me what I need to do and who’s butt I can kick,” Toph said, turning to the door. 

“I don’t think any butt kicking is necessary…” Zuko began.

“Who said anything about necessary?” Toph asked. She could do this. She could wait out her parents crazy demands at the palace. It would all fizzle out eventually. Toph doubted her father had the guts to actually follow through on his threats, anyway. 

Zuko watched her leave the room and when the door shut behind her he sank back in his chair and groaned. 

There were several things about this situation that he hated - the first being the obvious. The absolute _last_ thing he wanted was Toph being forced back to her parents. The law could only extend until she turned 16. 

_Still, that was nearly two years away._

Zuko quickly decided that he was not willing to go without Toph for two years. No, he wouldn’t let that happen. They were already missing Aang and Katara...Katara… Zuko did his best to pull his mind off of that particular subject. The trip in the North weighed heavily on him, and he still had no idea where she was. 

_My beautiful well-intentioned idiot._

He couldn’t focus on Katara right now. Toph needed him. 

There were several ways this situation could go down. Zuko would pay to see the Beifongs and their lawyer try to come and bodily haul Toph home. He could only imagine how that would play out. He and Sokka would grab some fireflakes and lean back to watch the show. He smiled at the thought.

But then there was the public and diplomatic way this would look to the other nations. Forget _who_ it was; how would the world react to the Fire Lord forcibly keeping a young girl away from her Earth Kingdom family? It wouldn’t look good at all. The delicate balance of peace and the progress he had made within his own government and the other nations could be threatened.

Was Toph more important than all of that? In Zuko’s mind there wasn’t a doubt. 

_Of course she was._

But he wasn’t just making decisions based on his own views or for his own life. It affected so much more than that. The thing Mai had said to him when he first took the throne came ringing back in his ears.

“ _Y_ _ou can be a good man or a good Fire Lord, but you can’t be both.”_

Zuko leaned his face into his hands as he hunched over his desk. The Prime Minister had worked with Suki to write up the law in the first place. Zuko frowned. Prime Minister Yurii was an old traditional man who wasn’t the biggest fan of Toph, for whatever reason. He wouldn’t offer a lot of advice if it was meant to keep Toph around. 

On the other hand, High Sage Fumihiro was a friend to Toph and had arguably just as much influence as the Prime Minister. Zuko would talk to him instead. 

If that did work he would talk to Sokka and Suki. Maybe they would have an idea. He wasn’t coming up with anything.

~0~0~0~

“Hmm, I see. So what you’re saying is, you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

It was the next day and Zuko managed to meet with Sokka and Suki on the balcony before lunch that afternoon. He had already met with the High Sage that morning and for the first time ever Fumihiro had agreed with the Prime Minister, though he seemed regretful about his council. Fumihiro and Toph had teamed up against the nobles together since the very beginning. 

But it could not be helped. The program and keeping the peace were more important than creating an international incident by attempting to exempt Toph from the law. 

He was hoping Suki and Sokka would come up with an alternate plan. One that avoided political drama and kept Toph home at the palace at the same time. 

So far, the conversation _could_ be going better. Suki and Zuko stared at Sokka who was beaming.

“Get it? A rock and a hard place? Because we’re dealing with Toph?” Sokka looked between Suki and Zuko, looking for the smallest hint of a smile.

“ _Kyoshi help me_ ,” Suki muttered under her breath. 

“Yes, it is a tough situation,” Zuko agreed, ignoring the attempted humor.

“No, it’s a _Toph_ situation,” Sokka interjected. He slapped his leg and nudged Suki, laughing at his own joke. Suki knew that he was only trying to lighten the tension of the situation...but it wasn’t helping.

Suki just shook her head and turned to Zuko. “How is she dealing with the situation?” 

Zuko raised his eyebrow at her. “How do you _think_ she’s taking it?”

“Right. Got it." Suki sighed. This past year had already been hard enough on Toph. This did not make it easier.

Inside, Toph was heading to the dining hall when she heard the voices. She caught her name and shook her head. If they wanted to discuss the situation without her then they shouldn’t have picked such an open spot if they didn’t want the best ears in the palace to hear them. She inched over to the side of the doorframe to listen in.

"No, but seriously, do the Beifong’s really think they can just waltz in here and take Toph?” Sokka asked. 

“They’re threatening to,” Zuko replied.

“Then call their bluff!” Sokka insisted. “No one in their right mind would try and force Toph anywhere.”

Toph smirked. Sokka was right on the money.

“Her parents have always underestimated her. I’ll bet they still see her as a little blind girl who ran away three years ago. They don’t know her,” Suki said sadly. “Meaning, they might be just dumb enough to try it.”

“Then when they get there Toph can just deliver their fancy butts right back to the boat they came on,” Sokka said. “And that’ll be the end of it.”

Toph nodded in agreement. _Good plan, good plan._

“That is the worst thing that could happen, Sokka,” Zuko said. “If there is any sort of confrontation here, the story will be that I was being hostile to Earth Kingdom officials and we risk erasing all the progress we’ve made with the other nations.”

“It’s not _you_ doing the confronting, it’s Toph,” Sokka pointed out.

“The other nations won’t care about that. They’ll see the words _confrontation_ and _Fire Nation_ , and they won’t care about any other details,” Zuko explained. “The fact of the matter is, Toph’s parents have legal claim over her and there’s _nothing_ I can do about that.”

Toph's grin faded as a rock rose up into her throat. She hadn’t thought about it like that. As much as people thought she was a ‘punch first, ask later’ kinda girl, Iroh had taught her to make decisions carefully and strategically. Just like in Pai Sho. 

And Zuko was right. She could break some backs easily, but what would that truly accomplish? She could create a mess for Zuko and still not be free of her parents afterwards.

“You sound like you’re giving up pretty easy,” Sokka said, scowling. “Toph deserves better.”

“You think I want this?” Zuko asked. “Ever since Uncle left, Toph has been my constant. If you think I’m not torn up about this then you don’t know me very well. But my hands are tied. I’ve got to think about more than what I want. I have a whole nation to worry about.”

“Hey, _no one_ wants this,” Suki interrupted, moving in between the two. With Katara still missing tensions were high, and Toph was important to both Sokka and Zuko. They were letting their emotions get the best of them. Suki’s heart was hurting too, but pointing fingers wasn’t going to do anything. 

“I’ll take a closer look at the law,” Suki suggested. “Maybe I can find a legal loophole.”

“I’ve already spent hours reading over it. There are two exceptions to the law,” Zuko said. “She would have to be legally adopted or be part of a legal institution.”

“Easy. We’ll adopt Toph,” Sokka said. “Suki, you be her mom. Zuko, I’ll duel you for the honor.”

“Her parents would have to forfeit their legal rights over her to the Earth Kingdom government,” Zuko said. “I really doubt that they’ll do that.”

“Fine. Make Toph a Kyoshi Warrior,” Sokka said, not deterred at all. 

“Kyoshi Warriors are nonbenders, Sokka. She won’t qualify,” Suki said.

“Fine. Ty Lee’s sister is an apprentice at the Fire Temple. Toph can become a nun,” Sokka said. 

Toph grimaced. _That_ was a horrible idea. 

“Pretty sure she would rather die first,” Suki said. 

_Accurate._

“Have we considered murder?” Sokka asked.

“We can’t kill Toph’s parents!” Suki protested. She dragged her palm over her forehead. This was giving her a headache. She had just received correspondence from Kyoshi Island and the North Pole. She was set to go pick up the newly orphaned girl from the North and escort her to Kyoshi Island, per Zuko’s request. She had to go soon. This situation couldn’t have popped up at a worse time.

“Well we need to figure out something fast. I have to leave for the North Pole in three weeks, and I can’t leave this unresolved.”

The words felt like rocks dropped one at a time in Toph’s stomach. She suddenly felt sick. _Suki was...leaving?_ How did she not know anything about this?

Her mind went back to all the conversations over supper. Maybe they _had_ said something about this trip. She hadn’t been paying attention. This revelation shouldn’t hurt so bad. She was _Toph Beifong_. The greatest earthbender in the world! She left home at 11 years old!

_She could take care of herself!_

But the confidence had chipped away and Toph’s chest tightened until she felt like she couldn’t breathe. She impulsively turned through the doorway onto the balcony. She could feel all her friends tense up the second she made her presence known.

“What do you mean you’re _leaving?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Left a little Easter Egg in there for all you 2000s PBS kids out there.
> 
> Heads up, guys. I have finally contracted the dreaded corona virus. Next chapter might be a bit. First 10 chapters of Destiny is a Funny Thing have been betaed if you want to kill some time while waiting on the new chapters.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not Covid free yet, but I'm getting there...

Suki offered to stay. Forego her trip to make sure Toph’s situation got sorted. After all, Suki was the biggest push behind the law that had caused this issue in the first place.

But Toph recoiled at the idea. Have Suki  _ stay? _ Well, of course that’s what Toph wanted, deep down, but the greater half of her would not let Suki stay to  _ take care of her. _ That’s what it felt like. That’s what it would be, and Toph wouldn’t hear of it.

No, this was just one of the hard pills of life to swallow.  _ People  _ were not dependable - even the ones who really cared about you. Sooner or later, life or circumstances took them all away. Her friends had their own responsibilities. Aang and Katara simply ran away. Uncle had retired. 

The only one she could truly depend on was herself.

Brick by brick, Toph started building her walls again, preparing for the inevitable.

As Suki began preparing for her trip, Toph braced herself for any word from her parents. The last hope she had was they would back down and not come so far as to send someone to the Fire Nation to get her. Toph was willing to wait it out.

Those hopes cracked when the next letter arrived a week later. The Beifong lawyers were already on their way, accompanied by officials from the Earth Kingdom. Zuko and Toph wrote a letter to Uncle but they wouldn’t know if they would receive a reply in time. Or even what Uncle could do.

Toph started constructing her own plan. She couldn’t raise chaos on  _ Fire Nation _ soil, but she could definitely make a break for it once she was in the Earth Kingdom. There was still the possibility that her parents were ready and waiting for such an attempt, though. The time Toph was caught in a wooden cage was never far from the back of her mind.

Would her parents stoop so low? Toph didn’t want to find out. 

There was one final option. Toph could leave the Fire Nation before the officials got there. The more she thought about it, the more that seemed like the best option. Uncle had always taught her to plan her moves and know as much about the situation as possible before making those moves. Life was a giant game of Pai Sho, and it was time for the White Lily strategy. 

So Toph spent five days in a study with a scribe as she learned about the law that was forcing her back - to the point she could quote it by heart. Her first move.

Then she took her plan to Zuko.

“You want to what?”

“I’m not waiting on them to get here. I’m leaving. I’ll go back on my own terms, not escorted out like a prisoner,” Toph explained. 

“If this is an elaborate scheme to hide out in the Earth Kingdom it’s a bad idea, Toph,” Zuko said. 

“I’m not running away,” Toph said as she blew her bangs out of her face.  _ I’m not Aang, and I’m not Katara. _ “I  _ am _ going back to Gaoling. I just want to stop and see Uncle in Ba Sing Se first. I want some advice and I really doubt my parents are going to let me go see him once I’m back in the Earth Kingdom.”

Zuko sighed and leaned back in his chair. He was not convinced. Toph would probably see Uncle, but he didn’t see her going back to Gaoling on her own power. There had to be a different plan. He could already see Toph tracking down June and becoming a bounty hunter with her. He wasn’t going to stop her - he couldn’t - but it made him uneasy. 

“Toph, if you do end up rampaging around the Earth Kingdom can you at least write me and let me know you're safe?" 

Toph smirked. He didn't believe that she would actually go back to Gaoling. 

"Come on, Zuko. Would I lie to you?" 

"Yes," Zuko said immediately. "You would and you have." 

Toph shrugged. He wasn't wrong. "Ok, but this time I'm being honest. I can't fix this by running away, unlike how Aang and Katara operate. I've been away for too long and I'm ready to end this for good. I'm going to make peace with them now or never."

Zuko was silent. Toph sounded sincere, and he knew that though she came off reckless, she usually plotted her moves silently and meticulously. She had a plan. 

"Do you trust me?" 

Zuko had to smile.  _ How the times had changed. _ "Against my better judgment," he replied. 

"Good." Toph turned to leave. "I'll write you. Let you know where I am and when. None of this disappearing junk." 

"Be safe, Toph. Make sure you tell Sokka what's going on." 

"Way ahead of you. He's seeing me off tomorrow morning." 

She didn't bother to tell him about Plan B. If this first idea of hers didn't pan out then her future was looking very similar to the fears in Zuko’s head. She wasn't going to endanger the position of her friends, but she wouldn't be  _ forced _ to live anywhere. 

Plan B would be hard, but when had that ever stopped her?

The next morning, Toph had one tiny bag with her and she had changed into green pants and a tan top, similar to the outfit she used to run around in during the war. Her hair was tucked neatly back into a bun and she and Sokka looked completely unsuspecting as they walked into the busy harbor area. 

"You, then Suki. This is bad timing. You realize you're leaving me alone with Mr. Angsty Pants," Sokka pointed out. 

"You'll manage," Toph said. "Which ship am I headed to? Please tell me it's a metal one." 

Sokka guided Toph towards the right docking area and kept talking. "Funnily enough, the Fire Council seems more concerned about the Northern incident than the Northerners. We've already proven the Fire Nation had nothing to do with it. I don't know why they're so antsy. Zuko seems plain depressed."

"He seemed normal to me," Toph responded. Sokka shrugged. 

"I'll cheer him up. Let him beat me sparring a couple times."

" _Riiiight._ _Let_ him beat you," Toph said sarcastically, only half listening. She stopped in front of the ramp that led up the ship. 

Outwardly, she looked confident and mildly bothered by this situation - just ready to get it over. Inside...she was quaking. She was confident her parents wouldn't be able to confine her, but she didn't want to hide out until she turned 16. She hoped her plan worked. 

Toph turned to Sokka and she felt his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. 

“Come back soon, Toph.”

She nodded her head. “Promise.”

“That trip was abysmal and this port is frankly atrocious! Are you sure this is the  _ royal _ capital city?” A high voice cut through the noise of the harbor.

Toph snapped her head sharply to the left at the sound. Sokka squeaked in surprise as she grabbed him by the collar (the nearest thing she could grab) and dragged him up on the ramp onto the ship with her.

“Tickets please,” the steward at the top ordered. Toph quickly shoved a slip of paper into the man’s hands. “This is only one ticket, miss. Your friend…”

“Stuff it and hold on a second,” Toph interrupted the man. They didn’t have time for this. She spun around to face Sokka. “Where is she?”

“Where is who?” Sokka asked as he rubbed his neck. 

“I know that high voice anywhere. Look for a skinny tall lady wearing a hat with a bunch of ridiculous feathers,” Toph hissed.

“How do you know the feathers are ridiculous?” Sokka asked in a loud whisper.

“Because they’re on a hat,” Toph replied. “That’s my old governess. The group from my family is  _ here. _ They  _ can’t _ see me leaving and they  _ can’t  _ follow me back immediately.”

Sokka quickly spotted the small group. They were boarding off a ship just a dock away. They weren’t looking in Toph’s direction, but they still couldn’t risk it. The group consisted of the governess, a lawyer, and two Earth Kingdom officials. Sokka quickly formed a plan. 

“You can count on me. Get below deck. I’ll take care of the rest,” Sokka instructed. 

“Ok,” Toph said. She quickly gave Sokka a side hug. “Take care of yourself and Zuko. Don’t let this place burn down while I’m gone.”

“Promise,” Sokka said. “Now go.”

Toph quickly disappeared below deck and Sokka marched off the ship and headed straight to the harbor terminal. 

“I need to reserve every boat heading to the Earth Kingdom,” Sokka said when he got to the front desk. The man behind the counter raised an eyebrow. 

“Sir, that’s a lot of ships and a lot of tickets.”

“Doesn’t matter. It’s not my money anyway,” Sokka said brightly. 

“What’s the name?” the man asked, rolling his eyes and turning to his books.  _ Entitled kids. So many rich folks around here. _

“Put it all under Fire Lord Zuko,” Sokka responded. The man shot his head up, eyes wide. Sokka grinned. This part of the job was fun. 

Once the transaction was completed, Sokka turned and raced back to the docks, hoping to intercept the group before they could start heading up to the capital city. He spotted them speaking to the carriage service. 

“There you are! The Beifong party for Miss Toph Beifong I presume?” Sokka asked in the grandest voice he could muster. 

“Yes,” the lawyer responded shortly as he looked Sokka up and down. 

“Wonderful to meet you,” Sokka said as he performed a sweeping bow.  _ If only he had his beard with him. _ “My name is Wang Fire and I’ve been instructed to escort you to the palace for an audience with his lord. If you will please follow me, my carriage is waiting over here.”

“So they  _ do  _ have manners in the Fire Nation,” the governess said saucily. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Fire. Lead the way. We intended to head straight to the palace as soon as we arrived.”

Sokka turned and led the group to the carriage he had brought Toph in. “Oh don’t worry. I will be sure to take you  _ straight there _ .”

Sokka couldn’t hide the grin that spread over his face. This could be a little fun. 

Five hours later, the group had just reached the crest of the volcano. Sokka pulled the carriage to a stop for the twentieth time that day. His little group looked exhausted. The two officers were fast asleep. The governess looked ready to strangle someone bare-handed. The lawyer was equally as ready to commit homicide, but was doing a better job of handling it.

If only Sokka hadn’t taken a wrong turn into some villages about five times. If only the carriage wheel hadn’t  _ unfortunately _ broken off halfway up the mountain. If only Sokka hadn’t forgotten half of the luggage at the harbor. It was truly unfortunate. 

When Sokka made a promise, he made sure to follow through to the most extreme degrees. Toph wouldn’t have a thing to worry about.

_ “ _ And down below we have the  _ capital city _ . You can see the palace there in the center and the Fire Temple just next to it,” Sokka began.

“Yes, the view is beautiful,” the lawyer said from between clenched teeth. “But it is very late, and, as I have told you multiple times before, our assignment is time sensitive. Could we please st…”

“Little known fact,” Sokka continued enthusiastically. The lawyer groaned and passed a hand over his forehead. “On the Day of Black Sun, the small group of warriors reached this peak just as the eclipse began. They wore special glasses to filter out the harmful rays emitting from around the eclipse. It protected their eyes and prevented them from going blind. Fascinating, isn’t it?”

“So intriguing,” The governess said sarcastically. 

“The warriors were led by Chief Hakoda of the South Pole and his son Sokka, one of the famous war heroes. Both survived the war and are currently…”

“Sir, I am about to get out and start walking. I think it might be faster,” the lawyer interrupted. 

Sokka smiled to himself and got the carriage moving again. By the time they reached the palace and found out Toph was gone it would be very late. The group would barely have enough time to reach the harbor before everything closed down to the public for the night. With every ship booked up there wasn’t a chance in the world that they could follow her. Not tonight.

He was a genius. 

Zuko didn’t completely agree when Sokka handed him the receipt from the harbor later that evening.

_ “You spent how much?” _

Toph didn’t come back on deck until after the ship had pulled out of the harbor. After that, she sat down near the railing and let the wind blow her hair out of her bun as she waited for anyone to announce that there was a ship coming after them.

No such announcement came and Toph relaxed. Sokka must have been successful. It was going to be a long week on the ship and she headed below deck to get some rest. She couldn’t wait to see Uncle. It was going to be quite the journey. The ship was headed all the way past the Serpent’s Pass and dock at the city harbor. From there, it was a simple carriage ride to the outer wall, then a train ride to Uncle’s.

Toph shuffled nervously at the thought. When Aang first disappeared Toph had pestered Iroh with questions, but the old general’s lips were sealed. He said he didn’t agree with how Aang went about things, but he wouldn’t betray confidence. Aang had asked him not to say anything.

So Toph was ticked at both of them. For a time. Now there was nothing left of the anger but a dull ache that Toph avoided labeling. She focused on getting through Ba Sing Se.

Ba Sing Se.  _ Ew,  _ Toph thought reflexively.  _ I am not looking forward to the city. _

It was just as miserable as she remembered it. The remnants of the war could still be seen as they entered the city walls. Toph could feel the amount of construction that was still ongoing on the main wall. The mess of vibrations beneath her feet made it hard to focus.

Zuko had sent her off with a letter closed with his seal. The letter dictated who she was and who she was headed to see. He promised her she wouldn’t have any issues getting assistance when she reached the city. 

Toph headed straight to the train ticket counter. The woman working the desk had a voice that was short and rude. Toph just shook her head.  _ City people. _

“Next!” the woman barked. Toph marched up and handed over her Beifong passport and Zuko’s letter to the woman behind the desk. The woman looked down and Toph heard her gasp lightly. Her tone immediately changed. 

“Ma’am, it is my honor to serve any of the young war heroes. I will arrange a carriage to meet you when you reach the inner wall. They will take you straight to the Jasmine Dragon. Will you require an escort?” The amount of fanfare that was layered in the woman’s voice was nauseating. 

“No escort needed. Where is the nearest government building? I need to stop there first,” Toph asked. 

“The citizenship building is just by the university. You’ll need to get off at station number 35. And I insist on an escort.”

“Is their name Joo Dee?” Toph asked. The woman blinked in confusion.

“No.”

“Fine then.” Toph took her ticket. A Earth Kingdom official met Toph at the train and Toph awkwardly sat next to them for the long train ride. It was going to be a rough afternoon.

It didn’t take Toph long to find what she was looking for at the government building. Most of the time was spent getting clearance inside and then talking with the senators who found her and started to ask a lot of questions. Seeing as Toph needed the government on her side in a few days, she tried to be as pleasant as she could manage. 

The sun had already set in the sky when Toph finally found herself standing in front of Uncle’s house. Her escort had mercifully left her be after dropping her off. This was her first time here. When Aang first disappeared Iroh came back to the Fire Nation and Toph had said some things she now regretted. What would Iroh say to her now?

She didn’t even get a chance to knock on the door when it swung open and Toph found herself surrounded by her Uncle Iroh.

“I saw you coming,” was all Uncle said. Toph was surprised and her body melted into the embrace of its own accord. And she had been afraid that he was upset at her. She should have known better. Uncle wasn’t the one pulling away from her, she had been the one pulling away from him. She always thought Zuko needed her more than she needed Aang and Iroh.

She had turned out to be very wrong. 

“I just sent you a reply this past week. I didn’t think I would hear back so soon, much less see you on my doorstep,” Iroh said brightly when he finally let her go. “I’m hoping it is good news?”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Toph said. “But, hopefully it can be good news soon. I’ve been traveling all day. Can we talk about everything a little later? Right now I want some food, tea, and a good game of Pai Sho.”

“Lucky for you, I have an abundance of all three,” Iroh said as he stepped back into the house and held the door open. 

“Thanks,” Toph said. She was ready to get off her feet. “Which way is Aang’s bedroom? I’m just going to put my stuff up.” 

“Aang’s bedroom?” Iroh asked.

“He’s not using it,” Toph pointed out bluntly. Iroh didn’t miss the tinge of venom in her voice. “Was hoping I could crash there.”

“All true,” Iroh said slowly. “But why use Aang’s bedroom when you can use yours?”

Toph stopped in her tracks. “Mine?”

Iroh chuckled and turned to walk up the steps. It was then that Toph realized that the whole entirety of the flooring of the house, both upstairs and downstairs, was lined in stone. Even the stairs. She could see everywhere. 

There was a new stone Pai Sho board in the open room to the left. It was just like the one she had left behind in her tea room back at the palace. She could smell the tea on the stove. She could see the little stone chairs and marked how every piece of furniture had a small line of stone that ran down through the wood to make contact on the floor.

The whole house was mapped out for her, and she could see everything as plain as day. Every step she took was comfortable and open. Nothing felt foreign or strange. Nothing was by accident. Uncle had designed his house specifically so Toph would be comfortable there. And he hadn’t even said a single reproachful thing when she had decided to stay with Zuko.

“Do you want to go up to your room?” Iroh asked. It wasn’t in Toph’s character to gush with compliments or excessive thankfulness, but Iroh could read it all over her face and it made his old heart soar. She loved the house - exactly as he hoped she would. He didn’t need her to say anything.

Toph swallowed the lump in her throat and tightened her grip on her small bag. “Yeah. Right behind you.”

A little while later, Toph was settled down on one side of the Pai Sho board. She had a steaming cup of Jasmine in her hands and Iroh was quietly getting out the heavy stone tablets for their first game.

Toph reached out and grabbed one of the tiles. She ran her thumb over it and turned it thoughtfully in her palm.

The first Pai Sho play Iroh had taught her was the White Lily strategy. Three small single moves at any point in the game, then the fourth move anywhere to deliver the final blow. 

He used it as a way to explain patience and foresight when making a plan. 

She had made her first two moves. She needed Uncle’s help to make the third. The fourth and most powerful move would be made when she got to her parent's house. She wasn't prepared to ask him for help yet. It was something she knew Iroh would offer, but not something she felt comfortable requesting. 

What happened to taking care of herself? Back at the end of the war she had finally accepted the fact that sometimes she  _ did _ need someone. When Aang had returned from the South Pole and announced his intentions to stay in the Fire Nation, that belief had been cemented for her. 

Because though she hadn't realized that she needed Uncle Iroh in her life at that point, she had realized that she needed Aang. 

Then Aang left. On his own, without a word of farewell or explanation. Toph wasn't expecting it to hurt so much. She was unprepared for the overwhelming feeling of abandonment and betrayal. 

The situation with her parents drove her farther into those feelings. If this plan of hers didn't work out, then she was going to Plan B. 

Deep down, she didn't want Plan B. She didn't want to be alone. 

_ Yes you do! And you can do it too! You can take care of yourself! _

The inner argument was ongoing, unending, and exhausting. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Uncle cut through her musings and Toph sighed and put down the Pai Sho tile and picked up her mug again.

“I have one plan, Uncle. If it doesn’t work then I…” she trailed off. If anyone was going to disapprove of Plan B it was Uncle.  _ And _ he would successfully talk her out of it. What was his advice? Be the bigger person and make peace regardless of the demands? Respect her parent’s wishes because they were her parents? Tell them they could stick their heads up their asses? That last one didn’t sound like Uncle, but Toph rather liked the option. 

“What was in your reply to us?” Toph asked abruptly. “I left before it reached us.”

If it was going to be advice that she didn’t like, she might as well get it over with. She was sure Uncle had an opinion on the matter either way. 

“Well first I wanted to ask some questions,” Iroh began as he put down the Pai Sho tiles. “I know you’ve been open to reuniting with your parents for a long time now. Are you still  _ wanting _ to see them despite their conditions and actions?”

Toph stopped short and the response flew out of her mouth before she could think about it further. “Yes.”

The admission was unexpected and Toph wrapped her arms around her middle. Because, despite it all, she loved her parents. She  _ missed  _ them. The isolated childhood was still a dark spot in her memory, but there were other parts too. It hadn’t been all bad. She could remember her mother’s voice, singing softly on those rare occasions that the servant’s didn’t tuck her in and Poppy did it herself. She could remember her father’s hands, big, warm, and soft. 

Their over-the-top concern for her well-being was insufferable and the fact that they hid her existence from the world couldn’t be forgotten either.

But deep down, she loved them. And she was starting to hate that fact.

“Uncle,” Toph said softly. Iroh’s face softened. Toph was a rock, but ever so often even a mountain could be shaken up by an earthquake.

Toph was in the middle of an earthquake.

“I don’t want to love them. I don’t want to miss them. But I still  _ do. _ ” The tea cup was pulled from her grasp by familiar, worn hands. “Does that mean I should just knuckle and go back? How can I do that? That’s not me, Uncle, I can’t…” Her voice cracked with a mixture of bottled anger and bleeding desperation.

“Toph,” Uncle said quietly. Toph felt the cushion dip slightly as Iroh settled down beside her. “The biggest hearts often get hurt the most. Love is always the better option, but we must learn to love without losing sight of who we are at the same time. You have blossomed, Toph, into a strong, capable, kind woman with a passion for justice and freedom. Returning yourself to a walled house in order to please your parents is an injustice to yourself and them. How can they know the true you if you do not show them who that is?”

“That’s the problem. They don’t want to know the true me. They never have,” Toph pointed out.

“You must give them the opportunity to change, Toph,” Iroh said gently. 

“I am so confused. I shouldn’t go live with them again but I have to give them the chance to change? Which is it?” Toph asked. 

“That’s what was in the letter,” Uncle said. “You did the wisest thing by coming back to the Earth Kingdom on your own instead of being forced back. That was my first piece of advice. Then, get the legal situation out of the way and get to a negotiation point. If they truly want a relationship with you, Toph, then they have to see the Toph that I see. They need a chance to learn who their daughter is, and whether or not they accept that is up to them. That was the second part.”

“And if they don’t see me?” Toph asked.

“Then you have done what you can. You can still love your parents and preserve who you are, but you can’t imprison yourself and do both.”

If there was one thing Toph was good at, it was taking a stand. She just wanted to make sure she was standing in the right spot.

“Ok,” Toph said, relaxing a little bit for the first time in weeks, “So how do we get the legal situation out of the way?”

“I have an idea,” Uncle offered.

“I do too,” Toph said. “I found a loophole.”

“It’s not really a loophole. Just an unexpected twist,” Uncle countered. He stood up and walked over to his study desk in the corner. He picked up a small stack of papers and placed them on the table. Toph heard the rustle and her face lit up.

Before Uncle could explain his plan Toph ran upstairs and was back down a second later, holding the folder she had retrieved from the government building. She dropped the stack on the Pai Sho board.

“Are...are these the same papers?” Toph asked. Iroh opened the folder and a slow grin crept over his face.

“Miss Beifong, would you be so kind as to accompany me to the royal palace tomorrow afternoon?”

Toph grinned. “I thought that  _ one does not simply ‘pop in’ on the Earth King _ .”

Iroh laughed. “Of course not. I already made an appointment.” 


	3. Chapter 3

Toph was ready to leave Ba Sing Se. She was not ready to leave Uncle, but she was sure the group at the Fire Nation would figure out where she went soon enough and she didn’t want them to track her to the Jasmine Dragon. 

The meeting with the king went better than Toph was ever expecting. Her parents were the only missing part of the puzzle now. Toph had the bundle of papers tucked neatly back in the folder and secured in her small pack, ready to leave after only four short days in Ba Sing Se. 

She took a minute to study her room before heading downstairs to meet the carriage Uncle had set up for her. 

“Are you ready?” Uncle asked as he put a small container in her hands. Toph grinned.  _ Tea. _

“As ready as I’ll ever be. I’ll figure out a way to let you know how it goes.” She hesitated before walking out of the door. There was still one thing nagging the back of her mind. “Uncle, you’re still in contact with Aang, right?”

“I am,” Uncle confirmed. 

“Could...could you read me some of the letters? Nothing he wouldn’t want me to know. I just want…” Toph paused, not sure how she could put what she wanted into words.

“I wish I could, but I don’t have any letters.” 

“Then how do you…”

“Aang and I have been communicating through the spirit world, Toph. I spoke to him about three weeks ago. He’s ok. He’s where he needs to be. I have a feeling we’ll see him very soon.”

“ _ You’ll _ see him,” Toph said. “I won’t.”

“Toph, he’ll want to see you.”

“No, Uncle, I mean I  _ literally _ won’t see him.” 

A slow smile spread over Uncle’s face and Toph managed a small laugh. She hoped Uncle was right. 

“Write me when I get to Gaoling. I’ll find a servant or someone to read it to me. My parents might try to lock me up, but I don’t see it working.”

“Hopefully it will not come to that,” Uncle said as he followed her out the door. “This carriage will take you to the Ba Sing Se airfield. There’s an aircraft heading to Nuhwa just outside of the Foggy Swamp and they’re expecting you. Gaoling is a day’s walk away after that. You shouldn’t have any problems getting there.”

“Thank you, Uncle. See you soon.”

The Earth Kingdom blimp was much slower than any Fire Nation craft that Toph had ridden on before. It took two days to cross the bay and the Si Wong desert. Toph wasn’t particularly fond of riding on the large contraptions, (they tended to give her uncomfortable flashbacks) and she was more than ready to get off the ship when they reached Nuhwa.

It was already evening and Toph decided to spend the night at an inn before heading to Gaoling the next morning.

The town had a large communication tower and Toph headed straight there. She needed to write Uncle and let him know she landed all right, and she needed to write Zuko and Sokka. Aang and Katara might disappear without a trace, but Toph would make sure everyone knew where she was.

She had one of the tower employees help her by writing for her. That went well until Toph casually mentioned that the letter was headed to Fire Lord Zuko. The young man went white as a sheet, mumbled an excuse, then disappeared in the back. Toph had to grab a second sheet of paper and get someone outside to finish the letter, deciding to refer to Zuko as  _ Lee _ to avoid the fuss.

“Your brother?” the stranger guessed as Toph finished dictating the letter. Toph paused slightly.

“Yeah. He is,” Toph said. “And he’s an idiot.” The stranger laughed and handed back the paper. Toph hesitated before folding the letter together and heading back inside to send it. She didn’t intend to add that final line, but it was written down and she wasn’t going to change it now.

_ I’m nervous, Lee. I didn’t think I would be scared to do this, but I am. Let me know if you hear from Katara. _

Being honest was always a little easier on paper, and it was true; Toph was...scared. For the first time in years, those feelings of isolation started to creep back. The situation with her parents could still go so wrong...and if it did...she would be  _ alone _ .

That night, Toph fell asleep while the voices and sounds of the nearby swamp swarmed down to the valley. If she was awake she would have heard it whisper.

_ Toph. He needs you, Toph. Come to him. _

She woke up curled on the floor right next to the door. Toph stretched and rubbed her eyes, clumsily looking for the little goop pieces that had grown in the corners of her eyelashes. She was used to hard surfaces but hadn’t she fallen asleep on the bed?

She’d never sleep walked before.  _ Weird. _

Breakfast was quick, simple, and a little nasty. Toph bought a small bag of snacks from the market before starting the walk to Gaoling. As soon as she was out of sight of the town she started earthbending her way over the hills. 

Did she want to get there fast? Was it better to drag her feet or get this whole situation over as soon as possible? Toph chose B. At this rate, she would reach Gaoling before lunch.

No amount of talks with Uncle Iroh, encouragement from Sokka or Zuko, or earthbending muscle could prepare her for this. Toph stopped a stone’s throw from the family gate. It still felt the same. The walls were there. The flying boar insignia was still carved into the rocks. She could even feel the garden and coy pond from where she was standing.

How much of her childhood had she spent in that stupid garden? She didn’t even want to think about it.

Toph was just about to go through the main gate when she stopped. Worse case scenario, if her parents were about to lock her up, Toph didn’t want them getting their hands on the precious bundle of documents in her bag. King Kuei’s signature alone might as well have been drawn in liquid gold.

Toph quickly bended a hole by the pillar of the front gate. She quickly formed a watertight rock square and settled her folder down in it. Once the hole was covered back up, Toph took a deep breath.

_ Should she just waltz inside or knock on the gate? _

Knocking was not the Toph way. The gate was locked but Toph pulled her space stone off her arm and quickly bended a key. She winced as the gate squeaked loudly as she pulled it open. Maybe she should have just tunneled into the garden. 

She didn’t feel anyone approaching so she headed straight to the house. Everything was so...quiet. It was unnerving. Once inside the house, Toph started to wander around a little bit.

Not much had changed. She was just about to head to her old room when she heard her father’s voice echo through the house. Toph turned on her heel and headed to the study.

“And when they tried to follow her back they couldn’t even find an open ship! The Fire Lord reserved everything. How is this not considered  _ contempt? _ Or  _ deliberate and illegal _ interference with an Earth Kingdom matter?”

Leo Beifong was almost shouting. Toph quickly picked out who was in the room. Her father, mother, and the house butler. None of them were earthbenders. If she needed to get out of this house, she could. 

“Do they know where she went?” Poppy asked.

“Ba Sing Se. Probably to meet up with that old general. They’ve brainwashed her, Poppy. We have a daughter that would rather live with our old enemies than come home to us.”

A little bit of Toph’s protective shell cracked. Her parents were hurt. Some things could not be explained or forgiven over a letter. They would talk. They would clear the air. She didn’t need to expect the worst. They were simply worried about her. 

She took a deep breath and stepped into the study.

“Hello Mom, Dad.” The rest of the words got stuck in her throat. What was she supposed to say?

There was a hush in the room. Toph could feel the heartbeats around her double their pace. There were hesitant soft footsteps to her left and Toph felt the faintest touch on her cheek.

“Toph?”

“Hi, Mom.”

“My little girl. Oh Toph, you’re home!” Poppy’s voice cracked as she picked up Toph’s hands. Her mother’s hands were soft as ever, a stark contrast to Toph’s own. “Your hands are so...rough,” Poppy said slowly.

Toph remained alert. The butler was leaving the room and her father was coming around the edge of the desk. 

“How did you get here? I thought the group got stuck in the Fire Nation.” His voice had calmed some and Toph thought she heard the softest tinge of emotion in his voice. She inherited her hard outer shell from somewhere. 

“I came here on my own, Dad. I didn’t want to be forced back. I wanted it to be my decision,” Toph said clearly. She wondered if she’d grown taller. She really hoped she had. She didn’t want to look like a little girl to them anymore. At least her mother wasn’t on her knees in front of her.

“Oh, honey, we didn’t want to force you,” Poppy said tearfully, “We were just worried that we weren’t getting the whole story. You were stuck in the Fire Nation. What were we supposed to think?”

“I’m ok,” Toph reassured them. “I’ve always been ok. Leaving home was the best thing that ever happened to me…”

A silence prevailed over the room and Toph mentally smacked herself.  _ Of course. _ She knew she hurt them when she ran away, now she was just rubbing salt in the wound. Should she try and approach this...delicately? No, blunt honesty had always been her way.

“I’m sorry,” she blurted out. There. She said it. “I don’t regret running away. I’m sorry, but I don’t. But I’m sorry I hurt you. I was eleven years old and I’d never had a real friend. I wanted freedom and adventure. I didn’t want to be under constant care and protection.” The speech she had been rehearsing for years was coming out in an unorganized jumble. Once she started, she couldn’t stop. 

“I helped save the world. I have the best friends I could’ve dreamed of. And now I’m growing up and I want you to be proud of me. I wanted to come back. I wanted you to want me back…” Toph abruptly stopped before she could get choked up. She had  _ never _ felt so vulnerable in her entire life. She hated this feeling. 

“Toph, we always wanted you back,” Leo said. Toph could sense him standing right beside her, but he didn’t reach out.

“Then  _ why? _ Why didn’t you just send for me or come to me in the Fire Nation the second you got my first letter? Why did it take three years and a stupid new law in order to get me back?” Toph asked. The emotion died away, replaced with the frustration and pent up anger that had accumulated for three years. 

“Because we couldn’t  _ trust them _ , Toph!” Leo said loudly. Too loudly. Toph felt Poppy wince and she silently motioned for her husband to calm down. “It was the  _ Fire Nation,”  _ Leo said, lowering his voice slightly, “The letters were coming straight from the Fire Nation palace. One of your friends is now the Fire Lord. What were we supposed to think? It wasn’t until this law was implemented that we were certain we could get you back safely.”

“You could have just asked me to come home,” Toph said quietly. 

“How?” Leo asked. “How were you going to get back here on your own from the Fire Nation?” There was the faintest hint of scoffing in his voice. Toph bristled.

“How do you think I got here now? I don’t have an escort. I made the trip on my own!” Toph shot back. 

“Then that just shows me how little your new “family” actually cares, or they wouldn’t have sent a  _ blind girl _ to make a trip like that on her own,” Leo responded. 

Toph’s retort lodged in her throat.  _ They didn’t see her. _

“ _ A blind girl…” _

“If you didn’t trust me to make the trip then you could have asked  _ the avatar _ to bring me,” Toph pointed out. 

“Right. The twelve year old boy who kidnapped you in the first place. That’s who we would have trusted,” Leo said sarcastically.

“He didn’t kidnap me!” Toph nearly shouted. “I. Ran. Away. On my own.”

“This isn’t helping anyone,” Poppy interrupted, putting a gentle hand on her husband’s arm. Toph had her chin up indignantly in her father’s direction, fists clenched and a scowl on her lips. Leo was glaring back at her, same posture, same expression. 

“Toph is back, and it’s a wonderful thing. Why don’t we settle down. Go to the sitting room. Have Matsu brew us some tea and hash this out properly?” Poppy urged. “It’ll be good for Toph to get some things off her chest. We have a lot of catching up to do.” Toph blew her bangs out of her face and slowly relaxed.

“Fine,” she huffed. 

“Of course,” Leo bit back. 

The sitting room didn’t ease the tension much. The butler quickly brought the tea out, but Toph could already tell from the smell that she wouldn’t like it. It had been brewed at the wrong temperature and she was sure it would be bitter. 

_ That’s now how Uncle does it. _

She refused to touch the cup.

“Ok, Toph,” Poppy said, clasping her hands in front of her. “I want you to tell us everything. Start at the beginning.”

_ The beginning, beginning? _

How far back did they want to go? Toph knew her mother meant starting when she left with Aang but the problems went back much farther. 

_ When I was born and you found out I was blind you didn’t tell anyone you had a kid. What did you say? I had died? When you found out I was an earthbender you fastened all the furniture to the floor so I couldn’t move a thing. When I was five years old you locked me in my room for three days for going on the back porch by myself. When I was six and asked for a teacher you first brought me the garden boy, thinking I wouldn’t know the difference.  _

Toph could go on and on. But what would rehashing all of that accomplish? Toph was ready to move on if her parents were willing to change.

So Toph began telling the story. From the beginning. From arguing with Katara, to first meeting Uncle, to Ba Sing Se, to being caught in the cage that  _ they sent for her _ and becoming the first metalbender in the world. She told them about the Fire Nation and Ember Island. 

Some of the details her parents had learned from news reports and a local play a few years back.

Toph shuddered to think. Hopefully they had revised the script.

She talked about Zuko and Uncle in detail. How Zuko had first come to them, how he and Katara had stepped into the parental roles without meaning to. Toph made sure not to use that exact wording. She talked about Aang and Sokka, her best friends and the closest thing to brothers that she had. She told them about Suki, even Mai and Ty Lee. 

Then she moved on to her life at the Fire Nation palace. She had stopped assassins from killing her friends. She had hashed out traitors and conspirators so the world could have an opportunity at peace. She explained why she decided to stay in the Fire Nation, hoping that her family would send for her, but content in her place all the same.

It was quite dark when Toph finally finished. Leo and Poppy were silent, only asking questions here and there. 

“I can show you my bending. Everything. I  _ am _ the greatest earthbender in the world. I’m fourteen and I can kick anyone’s butt. Even the avatar’s...as long as he’s only earthbending.” Toph’s mouth was dry from all the talking. She reluctantly reached for the cold tea and attempted a sip.

_ Ew, nope. That’s gross. _

“So you can see...with your feet…” Leo said slowly. Toph nodded.

_ That’s what he was hung up on? Not Aang going all glow-it-up and blow-it-up? Not bloodbending, not even Fire Nation court conspiracies? Near brushes with death? The Dai Li and Long Feng? Maybe they already forgot about the giant owl and the underground library. _

“Yes, I feel the vibrations. I’ve gotten to the point where I can feel the slightest movement. As long as someone is connected to the earth, I can see them,” Toph elaborated. 

“And you can tell when people are lying and you used this skill to help the Fire Lord?” Poppy asked. 

Toph could see where this was going. When would her parents realize that Zuko and Iroh were...good? 

“Yes,” Toph said shortly. Her parents were silent again. Couldn’t they say something for themselves? How about “I’m sorry?” They could start there. Toph would accept that. 

Toph felt Leo get up and walk to the window. “It’s late. We missed supper and we’re all tired. Let’s pick up with this tomorrow.”

_ That’s it? _

“Oh, come on!” Toph’s voice was hard. She wanted to know. “Did you  _ ever _ feel sorry? Did you regret  _ anything?  _ Because I did.”

“As you should.” Leo turned around to face his fourteen year old daughter, now looking more like a young woman than a child. “We are your parents. We loved you. We cared for you. You owed us the respect we earned and you turned tail and ran to strangers.”

Toph was fighting back the tears and turned her head away. She shouldn’t have come here.

Leo sighed. “But…” 

Toph lifted up her head slightly, hating how much she was hanging on to a single syllable.

“But we were wrong too,” Leo said finally. “We made you feel like you had to leave, and for that I am sorry. We shouldn’t have tried to hide you from the world. But Toph, know that it was done to protect you, not because we were ashamed of you.”

“We are proud of you,” Poppy said. “We don’t agree with everything you’ve done, but you’ve helped change the world. That’s a wonderful thing.”

Leo just grunted...in agreement? Begrudging agreement? Toph wasn’t sure. 

She could accept this.  _ This  _ was a start. Everything they had just said was sincere.

“Thank you, Mom, Dad,” Toph said sincerely. “Now I was really hoping I wouldn’t have a jail cell set up for me when I got here…”

“Of course not,” Leo scoffed. “Your bedroom is right where you left it.”

“Ok.” Toph hesitated. “Um, goodnight then?”

“I’ll walk you there,” Poppy offered. Toph was about to protest that she knew how to get there on her own, but when her mother didn’t grab her hand Toph realized that she didn’t want to  _ lead _ Toph. She was just trying...trying to be there.

At least that was Toph’s takeaway. 

Her father never budged from the window and Toph quietly left the room and followed her mother down the hall. 

“We remodeled it,” Poppy said when she opened the door. “But it was always  _ Toph’s room. _ We always hoped you were coming back.”

Toph decided not to start another argument based on the hypocrisy of her mother’s statement. She would just take it for what it was. Her parents were proud people. That wasn’t about to change.

“Thanks, although I think I’m a little taller,” Toph said hopefully as she felt out the bed in the room.

“Not much,” Poppy said sweetly. Toph scowled. 

“Um...wouldn’t you like a bath?” Poppy asked, looking up and down at Toph’s layer of dust on her bare feet and hands.

Toph grinned and shook her head. “Not if I can help it.”

“I can take your bag,” Poppy offered, reaching for it. Toph reflexively pulled it against her side. The folder was still safely buried by the front gate, but Toph wasn’t ready for her mother to judge the change of the Fire Nation style clothes she had brought with her. 

“I’m good,” Toph said shortly. Poppy’s hand fell back at her side.

“Well goodnight, Toph. We’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“See you at breakfast,” Toph agreed.

Her mother hesitated. 

“I’ll be there,” Toph insisted, answering the unspoken question. “I’m not going to run away. I just got here and I’m tired. Don’t get your panties in a twist.” The last statement came out without thought. Poppy made a face. 

“All right then,” Poppy said quickly. She took one last look at her daughter before leaving the room. Toph stood there for a moment just processing the events of the day. Part of her couldn’t believe that she was back here. 

But the room felt off. Toph frowned and shuffled her bare feet across the floor, kicking the rug out of the way as she made her way to the bed. A pit landed in her stomach and she felt a wave of regret for telling her parents the full extent of her abilities.

The walls, floor, and door of the entire room had been ripped out and replaced. The window was gone. And Toph could distinctly feel every metal bar that stretched from wall to wall, floor to ceiling within the stone. Every bar was laid a foot apart. Even the door was lined in metal then covered in wood. 

A normal earthbender would not be able to get out of this room if they were locked in. 

Toph went over to the door to study the lock. 

_ It locked from the outside. _

Her parents had remodeled her room all right. Into a prison cell.

She quickly closed the bedroom door and turned to the bed. Hopefully a good night’s rest would help her forget half the things her father said that night. She was better off not remembering them. She would try to forget her new metal room too.  _ She just needed to empty her head. _

It took a while, but Toph fitfully drifted off.

The swamp was miles away, and its call didn’t reach the town of Gaoling, but the old tree tried.

_ Toph. He needs you, Toph. Come to him. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally out of isolation and back to work! Didn't write a ton. Got distracted by my other projects, my fellow sick husband, and Attack on Titan. I am all caught up on the manga and the anime. No small feat, let me say.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was spelling Toph's father's name wrong all this time. I'll fix the earlier chapters later.

Toph woke up when the first hint of sunshine peaked over the hills. She had made some new habits while in the Fire Nation. One of those was the early rising. Everyone rose with the sun over there.

She reluctantly washed her hands and feet. She would do what she could to lessen the tension and make her mother happy. No one was up, as far as her feet could tell. The bedroom door was already cracked open and Toph stuck her ear up to it. 

There wasn’t a sound. 

Toph turned to her bag and pulled out the small box of tea Uncle had sent her off with. She wasn’t going to get a decent cup unless she made it herself. She left her bag on the center of the bed and left her room, closing the door behind her. 

She found the kitchen easy enough. The kettle was already on the stove and there was a bin full of wood at the side. It didn’t take Toph long to fill the stove and start the fire. She held the spark rocks over the wood and snapped the two stones together rapidly. She grinned.

Zuko would be proud. 

It wasn’t long before she had a steaming cup of goodness in her hands. She walked out to the balcony behind the dining room and settled down to relax and gradually feel the sunlight on her face. 

She didn’t move when she heard a stirring behind her. The back curtain parted and Poppy stepped out.

“Looks like our butler got up early and made some tea. How nice,” Poppy commented. She had a steaming cup in her hands and settled down on the chair next to Toph. 

“Yeah, really nice,” Toph agreed, hiding a smirk behind her cup. There was a few minutes of silence before Poppy took a deep breath and turned to Toph.

“Your father sounded harsh last night, and I’m sorry. But it hasn’t been easy for us. We honestly didn’t know what to think and we were so worried.”

Toph wasn’t about to argue with the logic. She sensed that the fear of the Fire Nation was nothing more than an excuse. Her parents were proud people who wanted her back on their own terms. 

“You’re not going back, are you Toph?”

Toph straightened up. “Back? To where? The Fire Nation? Zuko and my friends are there, Mom. I have responsibilities...and...and...stuff to do. Not to mention Uncle is in Ba Sing Se and he basically built his house so I could live there. Of course I’m going back eventually.”

“He built his house for you?” Poppy asked, the shock evident in her voice.

“No, not  _ for me, _ ” Toph explained. “He built it so I wouldn’t have trouble seeing in it. Everything is made with stone or lined with stone.”

“Oh,” Poppy said quietly. “Why do you call him Uncle? Is it a cultural term of endearment? Do all your friends call him Uncle?”

“No. Only me, Aang, and Zuko call him Uncle. Zuko because...well Uncle is actually his Uncle, and me and Aang because he’s more than a friend to us. He’s family.” Toph grinned, remembering the first time Uncle had suggested she drop the  _ General _ title. That had been a good day. 

“I don’t want you going back,” Poppy said. Toph thought about her metal bedroom and smirked.

_ Yeah, I bet you don’t. _

“I’m going to stay for a while, Mom. Now that I know you and Dad were just scared and _ don’t want to keep me a prisoner or anything _ , I’m happy to stay. I want to fix...this. Fix us.”

Poppy didn’t respond and Toph left it alone. Her mother didn’t pick up on the sarcasm. Toph wondered if she would ever address the metal bars in her room. 

Maybe not today. 

“This tea is really good. I don’t think I’ve had this kind before,” Poppy remarked.

“Really? It’s my favorite. Uncle used to make it for me every morning. Now I make it for myself,” Toph said. She wondered if her mother would pick up on the hint. Poppy slowly raised her head.

“You made it?”

Toph grinned and gulped down the last of her cup. She stood up, ready to go get a refill. “Yup. Glad you like it.”

She turned to go when she felt a hand on her arm. Poppy managed a smile.

“It’s delicious, Toph. Thank you.”

Toph merely nodded and left the balcony. 

_ “It’s delicious, Toph. Thank you.” My mom said thank you! _

Toph tied her hair back in a pony tail and attempted to bend the dirt out of her clothes before showing up for breakfast. She could feel the mood in the room shift the second she marched in.

“Good morning, Toph. Sleep well?” Her father’s voice was tight.

“Like a baby,” Toph responded. “The room just felt so...secure.” She sat down in her old spot. Almost four years ago she sat in this very seat while Aang sat across from her. She had shoved his face in his dinner and he had sneezed it right back at her.

_ Good memories. _

“I have to leave right after breakfast. The new construction is going too slow and the foreman asked me to stop by the other day,” Lao said casually.

“I’ll come with you,” Toph said. 

“No you won’t,” Lao contradicted immediately. 

“Why not?” Toph asked. 

Lao spluttered for a moment. “Because I said so!” he finally managed.

“That’s a dumb reason,” Toph said, reaching for her fork. “I’m coming.”

Lao glared at Poppy but Poppy merely shrugged. 

Lao insisted on taking the carriage to town. He and Toph sat across from each other and Lao did not try to start conversation. The ride to the construction site was full of strained silence.

Toph was doing her best not to hold a grudge. She was trying to look past the prison cell of a bedroom, past the harsh words from the night before. She was focusing on the  _ positives.  _ Like how her mother had said  _ thank you _ and her father had  _ actually  _ said  _ I’m sorry. _

_ Katara would be so proud. _

The building project turned out to be a new business that her father was building on the edge of Gaoling. He told her about it in a few short sentences.

“Banking got boring, huh Dad?” Toph asked as she jumped out of the carriage.

Lao scowled briefly. “The end of the war changed things, Toph. We had to change with it.”

_ See Dad? You’re not incapable of changing! _ Toph grinned to herself. 

“Mr. Beifong! I wasn’t expecting you this early,” the foreman said, marching over as quickly as he could. 

“What is the delay on this project? You promised me the second floor would be up this week. What’s the holdup? We’re burning money here,” Lao asked shortly. Toph didn’t pay attention to the conversation. She was focused on the new construction.

The foundation of the building was uneven and there was a small sinkhole about ten feet beneath the left corner of the building. It was struggling to hold up one floor, much less two. She started to walk over to the area.

“Toph!” 

Toph whipped her head over in her father’s direction. 

“Toph, the construction area isn’t safe and the men don’t know you. Will you wait in the carriage?”

“Don’t worry, Dad. If anything happens I’ll just use my firebending,” Toph quipped. If she wasn’t born an earthbender then fire was the next best thing. She’d make a good firebender. Or a fun one. The men around her didn’t think the joke was funny, no one but the foreman. He immediately started laughing.

“Don’t joke about that!” Lao hissed. Toph bit back a laugh and turned to the man beside her father, who was still chuckling.

“Toph Beifong,” she said as she held her hand out to the foreman. 

“Olley” the foreman replied. “But the boys around here call me Hammer.” 

“What’s the problem with the building?” Toph asked. Of course she knew, but she wanted to hear the theory. Lao started to protest but Hammer cut him off.

“Every time we try to add a new beam we end up having to support the left side of the building a little more. It keeps moving and we can’t figure out why,” Lao explained. 

“Probably because of the sinkhole underneath it,” Toph said casually. “Ten feet down. You need to fill it or change locations.”

Hammer’s mouth dropped open. “How?” he began. Realization dawned on him and Toph felt the man’s pulse speed up.

“You’re one of the young war heroes. You’re the one who invented metalbending and stopped an air fleet with her bare hands!” 

“And some friends and a boomerang,” Toph said, happy to share the credit. Hammer shook her hand vigorously. 

“It is an honor!” he exclaimed happily. “Mr. Beifong, I didn’t know the war hero and your daughter were one and the same! You must be so proud!”

“Y...yes,” Lao stammered.

“Our earthbenders might be able to fill in the sinkhole but it might take awhile. We can’t risk destabilizing and losing that corner of the building,” Hammer continued. 

“I can do it.” The two men looked back at Toph and she shrugged. “I can hold it up and fill the hole at the same time. Just have everyone stand clear.”

“Toph, I can’t let you…” 

“That is wonderful! You’ll save the whole project!” Hammer unintentionally cut Lao off. Lao clamped his mouth shut as the workers around the area tuned in to the conversation. They were all excited to see Toph bend and he couldn’t stop her now. He reluctantly stepped to the side.

Toph stretched and cracked her knuckles as she walked up to the unstable corner. It would only take a minute to do this. She could fill the sinkhole by pushing up the rock beneath it and slowly pushing the open space out from beneath the building to over to the side where it could be filled properly. Then she would take the metal supports and drive them through the foundation and deep into the bedrock beneath the old sinkhole to secure the foundation in case of settling later.

Impressive earthbending  _ and _ metalbending.

“I’m going to use these rods,” Toph said, pointing at the small pile of metal to the left.

“Whatever you need,” Hammer agreed immediately. 

Toph took her stance and clenched her fists. She first pulled up, making sure to concentrate on the surrounding earth for any other unstable places. She used one hand to hold the rocks in place and used her other hand and right foot to manipulate the ground on her right. The hole was now just to the left of the building. Toph relaxed slightly and dropped her hold on the corner of the building.

Toph kept pushing the empty space forward, moving the rock beneath the ground until the sinkhole was at the surface. The men gasped when the ground opened up, revealing a little crater 12 feet wide and 4 feet deep. 

Toph grabbed the metal poles next. She stood them straight up on the corner of the building and marked the spot to drill down. Toph paused to spit into her palm then rubbed her fingers together. She brushed her fingers up against the pole, feeling for the purified bits of earth within the metal. 

_ Bingo. _

With one quick motion Toph sent the pole straight down, through the stone foundation, down into the bedrock below. Then she slammed together and cemented the pole within the foundation. It wasn’t going anywhere.

Toph repeated this two more times then brushed off her hands and stepped back.

The men cheered and suddenly Toph was surrounded on all sides by the workmen who smacked her lightly on the back and arms and thanked her for the help. 

“You are amazing!” Hammer said in awe as he shook Toph’s hand. “If only all my earthbenders knew how to metalbend! Ever consider taking on students?”

Toph grinned. Teaching Aang was one thing. Teaching a whole class on her own? That...could be fun. “Maybe when Master Yu retires.”

The comment was met with hearty laughs. Everyone knew how Master Yu spent a whole summer chasing after Toph, only to get stranded outside of Ba Sing Se. 

The idea was an interesting one, and as Toph followed her father back to the carriage she started to ponder it more seriously. She wasn’t too worried about what she was going to do with the next few years of her life. As long as this thing with her parents smoothed out, Toph was hoping to rotate between life at the Fire Nation, Ba Sing Se, and now Gaoling. 

But what was after that? What was she supposed to do when she got older and wanted a place in life to call her own? Everyone had plans. Suki had the Kyoshi Warriors and her responsibilities in the Fire Nation. Sokka was an ambassador. Katara was planning on building a hospital and bending academy in the South Pole. Zuko was Fire Lord, and Aang was the Avatar. Uncle ran a tea shop. 

So what was her place? 

“That was...impressive.” Her father cut through her thoughts and Toph picked up her head in surprise. “I didn’t know you could bend like that. I even doubted the reports of metalbending. It was too fantastic and you can’t believe rumors around here. I didn’t believe it until I saw it…”

Toph held her breath. She wasn’t about to interrupt him.

“I’m sorry for underestimating you.”

A lump rose up into Toph’s throat. She tried to swallow it down but it wouldn’t go away.

“You are incredible, Toph.”

“Thank you, Dad.” It was all she could get out at the moment. Her heart was bursting as a desire she wasn’t completely aware she had was silently fulfilled. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions too fast...but her parents were starting to see her.

It was a start.

Supper that evening was a stark contrast to breakfast. Poppy reprimanded Toph once for cursing, but Toph didn’t mind. She was telling the story of one of her and Aang’s many escapades at the Fire Nation palace. That transitioned into a Sokka story. Lao even laughed a couple times. 

“This Sokka fellow sounds like quite the character,” Poppy remarked lightly. 

Toph smirked. “Oh, I haven’t even told you half of it. He's the dumbest genius I’ve ever met in my life.”

“Do you like these boys?” Lao asked unexpectedly as Toph took another bite of her food. She nearly choked and took a second to get herself together.

“What?” Toph squeaked. Her cheeks turned a bright pink

“You talk about them a lot. This Sokka, the Fire Lord, and the young avatar,” her father continued oblivious to Toph’s discomfort.

“Aang,” Toph clarified. “His name is Aang.”

“Whichever,” Lao said with a small wave of his hand. 

“I don’t think I’m comfortable with the idea of you and this...firebender,” Poppy said slowly.

“Zuko?” Toph spluttered. “Mom, he’s basically my brother. Sokka too. And both of them are in relationships...basically.”  _ Zuko and Katara really need to define their relationship already. _

“And Aang?” her mother pressed.

Toph’s explanation died on her tongue.  _ None of your business.  _

Her parents didn’t know anything. They hadn’t seen what the group had been through in the past years. The truth was, Aang had always been there for her, up until last year. Even Uncle didn’t know how Toph’s thoughts had wandered when it came to her closest friend.

_ Aang. _ She had been able to pick him out by his footsteps from the moment they first met. She was close to everyone in the Gaang, but Aang was different. He was the reason she found her life of adventure and new purpose in life.

He was her wings. She was his anchor. His rock. And he was the first person she had ever admitted to needing in her life. 

“He’s my best friend. We do everything together,” Toph said, hoping to lay the conversation to rest. 

“Why didn’t you go traveling with him if you two are so close?” Lao asked, looking up from his plate. 

Toph put down her fork. She had an uncomfortable amount of knots in her stomach. 

_ Because he left me. Without a word of warning or goodbye. _

“We just...he’s on a different path. He...he’s the avatar. He has a lot of responsibilities.”

“Just as well. You don’t need to be involved in relationships right now anyway,” Lao concluded. 

Toph stood up. The conversation had gotten more invasive than she was expecting and she didn’t appreciate the commentary. Her relationship with Aang was none of her parent’s business and they didn’t have a say in the matter. Heck, if Aang was sitting right next to her right then she might kiss him in front of her parents, just out of pure spite. “I’m tired. Yesterday was a long day and I think I need some extra rest.”

“Go ahead, Toph. You’re excused,” Poppy said. Toph frowned.

_ I wasn’t  _ _ asking _ _ if I could leave, Mom. I was just gonna do it. _

“Thanks,” she said dryly. “Goodnight.”

“Oh, Toph, I have a spa day planned for us!” Poppy added just as Toph was leaving the room. “We just built a new sauna in the back of the property and they’re just about to finish it. You have to try it out with me.”

“Sure,” Toph said. She had survived spa days with Katara. She could do one with her mother. 

Poppy glanced up worriedly at her husband when Toph left the room. 

“I was worried you were being too harsh, but after talking with her this morning I think you’re right,” she said softly. 

“We’re not doing anything wrong, Poppy,” Lao said. “We are her parents. This is well within our right.”

Poppy sighed. “I suppose so.”

Toph walked into her room and shut the door behind her. Her bag was on the floor and she kicked it out of the way and flopped down on her back. 

It had been a good day with her parents, up until supper. Things were looking better than she anticipated, but she hadn’t been expecting that conversation about Aang. Her mind was so full of new thoughts and ideas that it was hard to keep it all straight.

_ So many questions. _

What did she want to do with herself after this was all straightened out? What did she want out of life? She was already the greatest earthbender in the world. Where could she go from here?

Did...did she want Aang? Toph had purposely never thought of it. She sat up and chewed on her lower lip. Aang was the avatar and would forever carry those duties, but what did he want from life apart from that? And would she want to share that too?

She started with what she knew. Before he disappeared, Aang wanted to finish his training after spending a little more time with Uncle in Ba Sing Se. Uncle and Zuko had become his full time firebending teachers and Toph had spent the first two years after the war training him in earthbending while they lived at the palace. He was almost perfect at waterbending and airbending was second nature to him.

What did he have left to learn? All the spiritual mumbo jumbo? Toph guessed that’s what this year of disappearing was all about. If she wasn’t being cynical about it, she could accept that maybe Aang needed that year. He had been through so much in his young life and one weekend spent with a spiritual guru couldn’t have been enough to clear everything up for him.

After he became the avatar he wanted to be, Toph knew exactly what Aang wanted next.

A family. He was the last airbender and Toph knew Aang wanted to save his nation no matter what it took. He wanted kids. He wanted new airbenders so he could show them the way to the future. He would probably want to restore one of the air temples, his native southern temple she guessed, so his family would have a place to live. 

Could Toph do that? Is that what she wanted? It would be an honorable life to live. She was the person best qualified to help restore one of the temples. A huge building built at the peak of a mountain? Right up her alley. 

Could she love Aang and support him in the years ahead as he became the great man she knew he was destined to be? Toph held her breath at her instinctive answer. 

_ Yes. _ Because she already loved him. They already supported each other. There was just this  _ disappearing thing. _

_ Would I be happy in that life? Being a wife? A mother to a nation?  _

Toph didn’t know and she dozed off thinking about it, not even bothering to get under the sheets. 

Miles away, as the sun disappeared beneath the hills, the swamp started to get desperate and its reach crept out of the confines of the swamp and into the forests around it, every branch and leaf straining towards one direction.

_ Gaoling. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop a kudo or a comment please!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The one where it all goes to shit

Sunlight brushed over Toph’s face and she groaned and rolled over. Sunlight was streaming from the hallway through the open bedroom door. She had slept through the sunrise for the first time in ages. Was she late for breakfast?

Toph put her hand over her forehead. She had a headache. Maybe she would feel better after eating something. Toph swung her feet over the edge of the bed and yawned.

So far, this trip was going  _ so  _ much better than she was expecting. Actual apologies from her parents? Them accepting her abilities and not giving her an escort all over the house and wherever she went? She didn’t know why she was so worried. Maybe she wouldn’t even need her plan. The papers were still buried by the front gate, just in case. 

Toph wandered into the dining room and was surprised when she felt it was empty. She snatched an apple off the table and wandered to the front door. She wanted to check the box to see if she had gotten any mail from Uncle. It had been a few days since she sent her letter to him, and it was a little soon to receive a reply, but Toph checked anyway. 

She ran her hands over the letters in the box, hoping to rub her fingers over the wax seal that was shaped like a dragon rising out of a cup of tea. Nothing.

She sighed and took a bite of the apple. Maybe there would be a letter soon. She wandered over to the balcony and heard her parents talking softly just outside. She stepped through the curtains and the conversation abruptly stopped. 

“Sorry I missed breakfast. Slept late,” Toph explained, still munching as she plopped down on a chair and swung her feet over the side of the armrest. She took another bite of the apple.

“It’s not a problem,” Lao said, eyeing Toph’s posture critically. Poppy watched as her daughter munched happily. Drops of juice coasted down Toph’s fingers and Toph absently wiped the back of her hand on the front of her shirt. 

“Um, Toph. You’ve been wearing those same clothes for three days now…” Poppy began.

“Actually it’s been almost a week,” Toph clarified. Poppy looked mortified. “I guess I’m due for a change. Don’t worry. I brought clothes. I don’t think my old stuff will fit me anyway.”

Toph shuddered. The dresses she had grown up in were a distant dark memory that she did not want to revisit. She had worn dresses at Uncle’s request a few times in the Fire Nation, but he had let her pick them out herself and the Fire Nation was not nearly as stuffy as the Earth Kingdom when it came to clothes.

“Yes, a change of clothes,” Poppy repeated. “I was hoping instead of wearing the Fire Nation clothes you would consider something else? We can visit the tailor in town and have you fitted for outfits that are more to your liking…”

“I like my red clothes,” Toph said as she finished her apple and tossed the core over the balcony railing into the yard. She heard her father gasp just a tiny bit.

“Yes, but Gaoling is not as...open to reminders of the Fire Nation as other areas are. I don’t want people to think you’re from the Fire Nation,” Poppy explained.

“Geez, it’s been three years already,” Toph pointed out. 

“Yes, but the war lasted 100 years,” Lao countered. “I think the people still have a right to be uneasy.”

Well, her father had a good point. 

“Fine. I’m not wearing fancy dresses, though,” Toph conceded. This was a compromise. You win some, you lose some. 

“We’ll go tomorrow,” Poppy announced. 

It rained for the next two days, and Poppy refused to travel in the carriage under such circumstances. Toph sarcastically offered to tunnel them into town but Poppy graciously declined. Toph didn’t care. She was secretly loving being a constant troll to her parents. The fact that more than half of it went over their heads was even better. 

The rainy days were spent lounging around the house and playing games. The Beifong’s did not have a stone Pai Sho board like Uncle, but they did have a metal set of Mahjong. Toph enjoyed beating the pants off her mother several times in a row. Thankfully, they didn’t argue  _ too much _ . 

More sensitive topics were avoided. Toph didn’t feel like they were making much progress in their relationship, but at least they could sit in a room together and talk about non sequential things without getting too heated.

When the weather cleared up, Toph enjoyed breakfast with her parents then changed into her Fire Nation clothes. Poppy relented, seeing as Toph was only wearing them to the tailor shop. Toph quickly checked for letters from Uncle and when she didn’t find any she joined her mother.

“Oh this is wonderful,” Poppy exclaimed as she clasped her hands together. “I’m going shopping with my Toph! I never thought I’d see the day!”

“Honestly,” Toph responded. “Neither did I.” Poppy merely smiled. Toph heard a small shuffle around the carriage and a second later her mother settled down next to her on the bench. What Toph couldn’t see was that Poppy had closed all the curtains in the carriage, paranoid that someone in town would catch a glimpse of her daughter in red. 

The tailor was just as miserable as Toph was expecting. Strange hands pulled measuring strings all around her body. Around her waist. Up her arms. Down her legs. Around her neck. Her hips, even around her bust. There were several people in the room and Toph couldn’t tell who was who.

“Let’s start with a dozen,” Poppy told the tailor. “We can go from there. I'd also like to add some dresses as well."

“A dozen? Dresses?" Toph sputtered. “What am I going to do with a dozen outfits?”

“Wear them every day,” Poppy answered sweetly. “Then take them off and put on a new one the next day.”

Toph blew her bangs out of her face and huffed impatiently. Poppy watched her and frowned. 

“Maybe we ought to go to the salon as well. Your hair is a little wild.”

“ _ My hair _ is fine,” Toph retorted. She turned the person next to her and pulled the waistband of her red pants down a few inches. Toph hadn’t heard the person speak at all but now they gasped lightly. “See that layer there? Those are period liners. Fire Nation has them for all the ladies. Think you can design one like it? Wait, are you a boy or a girl?”

Poppy gasped and rushed to pull the pants right back up. “Toph! We don’t discuss things like that!”

Toph shrugged and grinned. “Why not? The red dragon descends on us all, doesn’t it, ladies?” She turned back to the person next to her who was standing in shocked silence. “If you are a lady, let me tell you, these things…” Toph kissed her fingertips dramatically, “ _ Lifesavers.” _

“That’s quite enough, Toph,” Poppy scolded. She grabbed Toph’s elbow and hurriedly escorted Toph out of the room. 

“But what about my clothes?” Toph asked. Poppy was upset but Toph couldn’t care less. Her parents were going to see the real her. She wasn’t about to filter anything out on their behalf. 

“They loaded a couple into the carriage that they had available in your size. We’ll pick up the rest later,” Poppy said shortly.

The ride back to the house was quiet. Poppy did not suggest the salon again and Toph was relieved. She wasn’t about to let anyone take some blades to her protective layer of hair. She’d made the mistake of letting Sokka do just that last year. Her bangs had only just now grown back. 

“Toph, never do that again,” Poppy said in a low voice. “Have you  _ completely _ abandoned your manners? Do they act like savages at the Fire Nation court? Is that where you learned this behavior?” 

“No, Mom,” Toph replied. “I’m polite and professional when I need to be. The rest of the time I’m just...me. I don’t put on a face. Not anymore. I won’t apologize for that.”

Poppy was quiet. They pulled up to the Beifong house a few minutes later and the servants opened the carriage door. “Summer is coming and you’ll need some lighter things when it warms up,” Poppy said finally as she stepped out of the carriage. “Next time we go to the tailor please keep your thoughts to yourself.”

Toph jumped out of the carriage, nearly toppling the servant who had stepped forward to offer her a hand. Toph stammered an apology and turned to feel her mother storming up the walk and back into the house.

_ Next time? _

How long did her parents think she was staying? Why the sudden rush to fill her wardrobe? Toph frowned. Come to think of it, she had never shown her parents the clothes she had brought with her. How did her mother know they were Fire Nation? Toph took a sharp intake of breath.

She was usually so observant, but with everything going on she had missed things.

She closed her bedroom door every night. She knew she did. Then how was it magically open every time she woke up the next morning? And her bag. She had left it on the center of the bed the first day she had been there and the following evening it had ended up on the floor by the bed. Suddenly, Toph knew how her mother knew about the Fire Nation clothes. 

_ The letter. _

Toph rushed into the house and over to the basket where all the correspondence was delivered. She hurriedly brushed through the papers but didn’t feel that familiar wax seal that she was hoping for.

_ Maybe it just didn’t come. _

But Uncle wouldn’t have waited a day to respond to her letter. It shouldn’t take that long to deliver a message by hawk from Ba Sing Se. They were faster than blimps, boats, or even ostrich horses. 

Toph turned on her heel and headed straight to her father’s study, hoping she was just being paranoid. 

"The arrogance! I knew something like this would happen. I didn’t want to believe it. She’s so duped, Poppy.  _ Completely _ naive and gullible. Does she  _ actually _ believe this?”

Lao's voice carried into the hall and Toph stopped just out of view of the doorway. She sucked in a breath. It was obvious her father was talking about her.

“This is exactly the kind of behavior that nearly ruined the bank’s reputation! I’m shocked we didn’t immediately shut down after the war once it got around that Toph was  _ living _ in the Fire Nation capital!” 

_ The banks? _ So  _ this  _ was why her parents were so adamant she return home? This wasn’t about her. This was about the company, family reputation, and  _ money _ . 

Power and influence. It was how the Fire Nation court went round and the Earth Kingdom was no better. Her parents were no better. 

“Just imagine what will happen when it gets around that we’re receiving mail directly from the Dragon of the West  _ himself! _ ”

_ They have my letter. _ Toph clenched her fists angrily. It took all her self control not to storm into the study at that moment.

“If she thinks she's going to head back to those heathens with our blessing then she's crazy. The sooner we get her under control the better."

"Breathe, Lao. It's not like the letter said he was coming here to get her himself." Poppy tried to calm her husband.

"Really? What am I supposed to take away from this?" Lao cleared his throat and Toph heard the rustle of paper. 

" _ Toph, remember what we talked about. I know you are scared, but know that if this goes wrong I will figure out a way to get to Gaoling and help you. No rock can hold you and wood always burns.  _ See there! That is a threat! That is manipulative! He’s trying to get her to turn against her own family! He’s willing to break the law!”

The sound of paper ripping sliced Toph’s heart in half.  _ They had no right! _

_ “You must give them the opportunity to change, Toph.” _

“Sorry, Uncle,” Toph muttered. “This is where I draw the line.” She stormed into the room, fully surprising Lao who instantly took a step back.

“Give it to me.” Toph’s voice was strong and rigid. She held her hand out while her face was an unreadable stone.  _ Thanks for the lessons, Mai.  _ “That letter belongs to me. You had no right.”

Lao quickly gathered himself together and crossed his arms. “It does not belong to you. It came to this house and anything under this roof is mine.”

“Bullshit,” Toph shot back instantly. “The servants get mail directed here. Do you go through their mail too? That letter was addressed to me. It’s mine.”

Lao laughed lightly. “No,  _ actually, _ the letter was addressed to  _ the Beifongs. _ ”

Toph curled her toes against the stone floor. She could read her father’s vibrations, but she didn’t need to feel them to know he was lying. Uncle always addressed his letters to  _ Toph, her Royal Excellency. _ It was an inside joke between the two of them. 

“You’re lying,” Toph bit out. The torn letter was on the floor and Toph bent down and snatched the pieces up. 

“You can’t read it anyway,” Lao said under his breath as he turned towards Poppy. Angry hot tears stung Toph’s eyes but she quickly blinked them back. 

“Is this...is this how it's going to be?” Toph asked. “I can’t close my bedroom door. You’ll go through my personal stuff without asking. I’ll be lucky if you don’t intercept and destroy my mail. You’re going to control what I wear and how I speak and if you can’t do that then you’ll just lock me up again? I think you’ve already figured out the metal bedroom won’t work on me.”

“Toph, you are our daughter and it is our responsibility to make sure you don’t hurt yourself,” Poppy said. She stood up and started to walk towards Toph. “This Fire Nation general is not a good influence on you. You’re not old enough to understand how he can hurt you.”

“His name is  _ Uncle Iroh,”  _ Toph said as she took a step away from her mother. “And he  _ would never _ hurt me. He treats me with respect. Like an adult. He doesn’t  _ tell me what to do.  _ He counsels me and guides me, then lets  _ me make my own choices and reap my own consequences.”  _

“That’s foolish, Toph. You’re not an adult. You need to earn that kind of respect. And we can’t let you hide anything from us,” Lao said. “It’s  _ my _ right to know exactly what goes on in  _ my  _ home.”

“Really, honey. Every family is like this. I don’t know why your acting like this is so outrageous,” Poppy said matter-of-factly. 

Toph’s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her wall that had started to crack over the past week suddenly sealed right back up. This wasn’t loving. This wasn’t family. Plan B was better than this. 

“You’re blind,” Toph said quietly. “You both are.”

“What was that? Speak up, Toph,” Lao ordered.

Toph raised her head and made sure to speak loudly and clearly. “You’re blind,” she repeated. “ _ You can’t see me. _ And you’ll never see me. Uncle was right.” She clasped the torn letter to her chest and turned to leave the study.

“Toph!” Lao roared. “Don’t you  _ dare _ turn away from me. Come right back here.”

Toph stopped but didn’t turn around. There was the smallest hint of laughter in her voice when she replied. “Make me.”

Her parents wisely didn’t follow her back to her room. Toph stormed in and slammed the door behind her. She held her hand over the knob and twisted the metal inside, ensuring no one could open the door unless they physically broke it down. 

She had to leave. There was no future here. It didn’t matter how powerful she was or what she had accomplished in her life. Her parents were obsessed with control, and she couldn’t change that. Now it was just a matter of how she got out of this mess.

The legal situation was still there. If Toph fled to Uncle’s or back to the Fire Nation they would be legally obligated to return her. If she went rogue and ran off on her own then she would have to stay out of the way of authorities for nearly two years. But Toph doubted her parents would look for her if she chose Plan B. They didn’t particularly want her  _ here, _ it seemed; rather, they didn’t want her associating with anyone from the Fire Nation or working with the Fire Nation. 

She would be alone. For two years. Toph wanted to be ok with that, but based on how she was feeling right now, she wasn’t. She wasn’t physically alone, no. But she felt isolated in every other sense of the word. Could she really do that  _ for two years? _

_ You can take care of yourself! _

Toph clenched her fists as hot tears finally spilled from her eyes and dripped down her chin. She knew she  _ could  _ take care of herself...but she didn’t want to. Not anymore.

“I...I don’t want to be alone,” Toph whispered to herself. 

Based on the sudden turn of events, Toph didn’t think Uncle’s plan would work. It required cooperation on her parent’s part.  _ Unless she muscled them into it. _ That was an option, but Toph knew she got her stubbornness from somewhere and she wasn’t entirely sure her parents would knuckle under the threat of Toph leveling the house. 

She was contemplating how to go about this when there was a soft knock at the door. 

“Toph?” 

It was her mother. Poppy’s voice was timid and hesitant, like she was expecting Toph to break the door down on top of her. Toph opted to stay on her bed and just shout through the door.

“What do you want, Mom?” 

“Don’t tell your father we had this conversation, but I just wanted to say I’m sorry. My goal has always been to protect you and keep you safe. I don’t really know what to do. Lao has his own ideas and I hate fighting.”

Toph leaned her chin on the edge of the bed and kicked her feet up. “That would have meant a lot more if you had said that in the study instead of now while you’re hiding in the hallway.”

“I couldn’t have said that in front of your father, Toph. When it comes down to it, Lao has the final say. I don’t.”

Toph was quiet. She didn’t know enough about her parent’s relationship to validate the reasoning. She quietly swung her feet over the edge of the bed and planted them firmly on the ground. Her mother’s heartbeat was quick and erratic. She  _ did _ sound upset.

“Toph, I thought I lost my chance to have a relationship with my daughter. Please, give me the opportunity to build that up again.” Poppy’s voice was broken and begging. “A mother needs her daughter and a daughter needs her mother. Please.”

Toph sighed and opened her bedroom door. Poppy relaxed drastically. 

“You have  _ so many _ apologies to make,” Toph started out, “ _ Sincere apologies. _ And I’ll be able to tell one way or the other. If you actually want to have a relationship with me that’s where we  _ have  _ to start. And I don’t want to hear one negative thing about Uncle Iroh. He has practically raised me the past three years and I respect him way more than I respect either you or Dad at this point.”

Poppy cringed at the statement but Toph didn’t care. If her mother truly wanted a relationship then she would follow through with all the requests. 

“Those are my terms,” Toph finished. “If you don’t want to do that then enjoy having conversations with my bedroom door.”

“We’ll talk,” Poppy said quickly. “But not here. Let’s go to the sauna in the back where we can have some privacy. Maybe that will help us both relax some too.”

Toph sighed and relented. If her mother wanted to do this independently of her father then she wasn’t going to argue. A few minutes later Toph was following her mother to the back of the property. She had a lavender scented towel over her shoulder and she could already feel the heat radiating from the boiler heating the sauna.

“It is beautiful,” Poppy was saying. “The construction is amazing, really. I wish you could see it, Toph.”

“Eh, you’ve seen nothing once you’ve seen nothing a thousand times,” Toph remarked casually. They were coming up on the coy fish pond. It seemed larger than she remembered it, but Toph couldn’t feel a new building.

“Where is this thing?” Toph asked. Poppy’s vibrations disappeared and Toph immediately tensed up. “Mom, where did you go?”

“Oh, we built the sauna in the middle of the coy pond. There are five bridges leading up to it. We never run out of steaming water and the view is very aesthetic from the back of the house,” Poppy explained.

Toph was hesitant. She hadn’t picked up on any insincerity from her mother, but she wouldn’t be able to see anything on the wooden bridges, and that unnerved her. She would be uncomfortable until she got to the tiny island in the middle. 

She put one foot on the bridge and took a tentative step forward. She immediately put out her hands, feeling for a railing.

“The construction is amazing,” Poppy said again. Toph could feel the bridge sway as her mother walked across. “The entire sauna floats on the water like a boat.”

_ It floats? _

Toph’s heart dropped into her stomach and she slowly backed up until she was standing in the yard again. Poppy turned around and saw Toph standing there, face as white as a sheet. 

“Toph, what’s wrong? Are you coming?” Poppy asked. Her voice was suddenly strained and nervous. 

“Mom, I want you to cross that bridge and come back to the yard right now,” Toph ordered.

Poppy’s mouth drew into a thin line. “Why?” Toph heard the nerves in that single syllable and her heart dropped down to her toes. 

_ No, please don’t disappoint me again. _

“Because I need to ask you a question and I need you to tell me the truth,” Toph said, doing her best to keep her emotion out of her voice.  _ Strong, steady. Like a rock. _

“I don’t understand. Don’t you trust me?” Poppy asked. She fidgeted nervously on the bridge and glanced around the yard.

Toph’s voice cracked. She couldn’t help it. “No. I don’t, Mom.” She took a deep breath and took a step back, realizing that her mother was not going to budge. 

“Are you about to lock me in a floating wooden sauna?”

There was silence. 

“Mom, are you?” Toph repeated. The desperation cut through her voice, wavering uncharacteristically. Poppy didn’t respond, and the silence was confirmation enough. Toph felt sick to her stomach. 

Poppy was sobbing now. “I’m sorry, Toph.”

Toph squeezed her fists together until her nails dug sharply in her palms. She turned and started to run. She thought she heard her father’s voice in the distance, but she couldn’t tell. She was almost to the garden wall when she felt the footsteps. A group of people were running towards her, all coming from around either corner of the house. 

Hot angry tears welled up in the corner of her eyes and Toph quickly brushed them aside. The garden wall crumbled the second she made contact with it. Toph didn’t even hesitate. The stone parted around her like a wave as she ran through it, heading straight for the open road and forests beyond that. 

Her own heart was thumping loudly and it wasn’t until she had put over a mile of distance between herself and the Beifong house that she finally stopped to catch her breath. The second she stopped moving the betrayal cut through her like a knife. 

_ Betrayed. Abandoned. Alone. _

She couldn’t stop for long. She just couldn’t. Everything hurt  _ so much. _

_ Run. Just run. _


	6. Chapter 6

Toph didn’t know where she was headed. She just knew she had to get away. Dusk had fallen by the time she finally stopped in a small clearing. She was in the forests just outside of Gaoling. There was no way her parents would find her here.

Toph plopped down on the ground and spread out fully in the dirt. She dug her fingers into the moss, trying to feel as close to the earth as she possibly could. Her hair had fallen into something muddy, but she couldn’t care less.

She envisioned getting as dirty as possible then just walking up to her mother to get the reaction. The scene was a satisfying one and Toph chuckled to herself in spite of her situation. She thought up countless things about herself that she knew her parents hated and would never accept about her.

Somehow, it made it easier. These were things that were a permanent part of who Toph knew she was, and they weren’t going to change. It was easier to think about keeping true to herself than to consider sacrificing for two people who liked the  _ idea  _ of her instead of the  _ actual her.  _

That kept her away from other ideas. Like the thought that if she had just been born a little  _ different _ then maybe she could still have her family. Maybe her parents wouldn’t want to treat her like an animal to be caged.

There was no one around to criticize or judge her, so Toph took a deep breath and shouted every swear word she knew into the forest.

As the echoes died away Toph scooped herself off the ground and started heading back towards the main road. She wasn’t sure where she was headed or where she would go, but she had to sneak back to the house and retrieve the pack buried in the front yard at some point.

If she  _ was _ going to be on her own for the next two years then a stamped letter from the Fire Lord might come in handy. Zuko’s letter was in the binder along with the rest of the papers that Toph had brought with her. 

Toph’s stomach growled loudly. She had missed both lunch and supper at this point. Maybe she could sneak into Gaoling and rustle up some food. All her money was still in her bag at her parent’s house. 

Her escape could’ve been planned out better, but how could she have known that her parents were going to pull some crazy crap like that? She wasn’t entirely sure which direction to head in, and it had to be getting dark. She was pretty sure the countryside would be crawling with people looking for her. She had to watch her step and avoid earthbending if she could.

As Toph stepped out onto the main road she felt a wagon rolling up. She quickly stepped back into the shadows. As the wagon came closer Toph could hear gruff singing.

_ “It’s a long, long way to Ba Sing Se but the girls in the city, they look so prettttttyyyy!” _

Toph smiled and stepped out into the light. The wagon pulled to an abrupt stop. 

“Whoa there, little lady. Whatcha doing out way out here? Are you lost?”

“No, but I went shopping earlier and left my coin purse in town. Are you headed to Gaoling?” Toph lied quickly. 

“Sure thing. Hop on,” the man offered. “I have a farm a couple miles down the road and I’m just doing a delivery for tomorrow.”

“Sweet, thanks.” Toph said. She climbed up easily onto the bench beside the man. The farmer looked at her curiously, but clicked to his reindeer horse a moment later. The cart lurched forward and Toph leaned back and put her hands in her pockets. Her fingers wrapped around the torn letter still in her pocket.

“Where abouts do you live?” the farmer asked conversationally. 

Toph picked up her head. An ironic question. She wasn’t exactly sure at this point. She knew where she  _ wanted  _ to be.

“Ba Sing Se with my Uncle sometimes and then in the Fire Nation with my brother,” Toph replied.

The farmer raised an eyebrow. That was certainly an odd combo. It wasn’t completely unheard of. Mixed families were sprinkled all over the Earth Kingdom and the concept was slowly starting to be more accepted.

“What are you doing all the way out here then?”

“Visiting,” Toph said shortly. She paused and the farmer did not pry any further. “I don’t think I’ll be coming back.”

“That so? Too bad. Gaoling is a pretty place.”

“I’m sure it is,” Toph said quietly. She pulled the papers out of her pocket and wordlessly held it out to the farmer. “Would you...mind reading this for me?”

The farmer held up his lantern a little higher. The young girl beside him was holding out a letter that had been torn in two pieces. Her bangs covered most of her face, but as the wagon rolled down the road, the movement exposed her clouded eyes. 

“Of course,” the farmer responded quickly. He hung his lantern on the hook over the wagon and did his best to align the torn letter together. Toph folded her arms. Uncle couldn’t have written anything that would have stopped what happened that afternoon, but just hearing what he sent back to her would be a comfort now. 

_“Toph,_ _I’m glad to hear back from you so soon. I remain hopeful that you can repair what has been broken for so long, but, if you cannot, I want to be the first to say that it is not your fault.”_

Toph sucked in a breath and bit her lower lip. She hadn’t thought about that so much, but hearing the confirmation was something she didn’t know she needed. She wasn’t a bad person. She wasn’t a bad daughter. 

_ “Seeing as you might not be able to write for a little while, I wanted to leave you with a few things. Do not sacrifice or change yourself for anyone’s approval. It’s not so much  _ _ if _ _ you need someone as much as it is  _ _ who _ _you need._ _ A sharp word to anger is like gas to a fire. It makes the situation worse and you can’t take either back.  _

_ Toph, remember what we talked about. I know you are scared, but know that if this goes wrong I will figure out a way to get to Gaoling and help you. No rock can hold you and wood always burns. We can do anything together, and you will never be alone. Not while I can help it. Two years of legal battles are better than losing you for that long. Be strong, and remember who loves you.  _

_ Uncle.” _

The farmer put down the letter slowly. He knew she asked him to read it, but he felt like he had just trespassed on a very personal message. 

“So you’re not coming back, huh?” he asked. 

Toph just shook her head. Uncle’s words hit her deeply. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t run away for two years. Uncle was right. Anything was better than that.

_ Remember who loves you. _

Zuko and Sokka might disappear into their duties. Suki might be called away on missions all year long. Aang and Katara might run away, and she might not be able to live with Uncle at Ba Sing Se all the time… But these people loved her. And because of that, she would never be alone. 

Never. 

She had to fight. She had to try. She might get trapped the second she went back to the Beifong house. Maybe her parents would find chi blockers or build a house completely out of wood. But the situation was only hopeless if she let it be hopeless.

“Is that all he wrote?” Toph asked. 

“There’s a note at the bottom,” the farmer said, raising the paper to the light again. “ _P.S._ _I talked to Kuei about our problem again. Apparently he does a lot of business with the Beifong corporation, but can be persuaded to go elsewhere.”_

The farmer slowly lifted his head and stared at Toph. “Kuei?” he asked in a tight voice. “As in  _ King Kuei?” _

“Stop the cart,” Toph said. She held out her hand and the farmer handed her the letter. His mouth was still dropped open. 

“And Beifong?” the man asked.

“Thanks for the ride, but I think my destination has changed,” Toph said. 

“Beifong, as in Beifong banking? The flying boar Beifongs? Those Beifongs?”

“Have a good night!” Toph called over her shoulder. She turned back up the road and clenched her fists. She didn’t care who spotted her this time. No, she was headed straight up to the main gate. 

“ _Wait!_ _You’re Toph?_ Toph Beifong?!”

But Toph had already set off, rolling the earth beneath her feet. She was headed back to her parent’s house… for the last time.

~0~0~0~

“This is all your fault!” Lao slammed his hand down on his desk. The servants and guards were still looking for Toph outside but night had already fallen and the chances of finding her were slim. Poppy was pacing the room and paused for a moment to stare at Lao in disbelief. 

“ _ My fault?  _ Lao, we don’t even know if that plan would have worked. She’s smart. I didn’t think she’d fall for it.”

“She would have if you hadn’t told her how the stupid thing was built.”

Lao and Poppy glared at each other for a long minute. 

“I’m writing the agencies at Ba Sing Se and the Fire Nation. They’ll keep an eye out for her and the second they see her at the palace or with the old general they’ll  _ have _ to send her back,” Lao said as he violently pulled out a quill and paper.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Our guards still might find her and bring her back,” Poppy said. “She couldn’t have gone far.”

Outside, the guards were having a small discussion amongst themselves.

“So...if we find her, how are we going to bring her back?”

“Don’t look at me.”

“If I see her I intend to look the other way.”

“Yeah, same.”

A blur of brown and green suddenly rushed past the men and they found themselves flat on their bottoms. They looked at each other in disbelief. 

“I won’t tell if you don’t tell.”

“Deal.”

Toph was out of breath by the time she reached the front gate. She could feel other people in the general area, but so far, no one was moving towards her. She quickly unearthed the stone compartment where she hid the binder.

For a split second she worried that the rain had made its way into the stone and the papers would be a mushy mess. She breathed a sigh of relief when her fingers closed around the edges of the dry paper. 

She straightened up and hugged the binder to her chest.

_ Let’s do this. _

Going through the front door didn’t seem like the smartest idea. Toph quickly bended a doorway in the wall and walked into the yard. She still didn’t sense anyone coming towards her so she headed around the back of the house, straight towards the study.

She could hear her father’s voice floating out through the open window. Any hope Toph had of building a relationship with her parents had already been boxed up, tied with a bow, then kicked into oblivion. 

Toph was done.

And by the sound of it, so was her father. 

“We tried your way! We tried  _ talking, _ Poppy. I wonder how long it would take Olley to design a wooden house up by the lake.”

“You really think we can’t contain her here?” Poppy asked.

“Those Fire Nation people know where she is if we keep her here,” Lao said, shaking his head. “And I don’t want her in Gaoling anymore.”

Toph scowled and slid into a stance. Two quick movements was all it took to crumble the whole wall of the study. Poppy and Lao jumped back in shock. The roof was still stable… _ somewhat, _ so Toph didn’t worry about hurting them.

_ But crunching that wall sure felt pretty good.  _

“Don’t worry, Dad. I don’t want me in Gaoling either.”

“Toph!” Lao exclaimed. He gathered himself together and swiped off some of the rubble that had fallen onto his desk. “Where are the guards?”

“Not coming,” Toph said as she walked over the broken wall and made her way to her father’s desk. She plopped down the folder in the center then sank down into her father’s chair. Poppy and Lao stared at her from the other side of the desk. 

“What is this?” Lao sputtered. Poppy started looking around the ruined study. So many vases, decorations, and frames were broken. This would take weeks to repair!

Toph reached forward and opened the folder. “I got together some paperwork while I was in Ba Sing Se. This one states that you forfeit all rights over me, and this one here assigns me as ward of the central government in Ba Sing Se,” Toph explained. “Sign this line at the bottom, and you can stop worrying about the daughter you can’t control.”

“Why would we do that?” Poppy said, finally pulling her eyes off her broken possessions. “You are a Beifong, Toph. As soon as you can start acting like it we can put this whole thing behind us. This is extreme.”

“We’re not signing anything,” Lao said tertly. 

“You’ll sign,” Toph said. She leaned forward in the chair and placed both her elbows on the desk. “You sign or I make your life a living hell from here on out. You wanna try and lock up the world’s greatest earthbender?” Toph spread her arms out dramatically. “Then come at me!”

“Toph, you are 14 and are experiencing a  _ phase,”  _ Lao said. “We’re not going to give you up to the state just because you promise to throw a tantrum. Do you know how that will look? I can see the headline now. Beifong Banking, can handle your money, but not their own daughter.”

“Toph, think about what you’re requesting. Remember what I said earlier?” Poppy said desperately. “You need a mother. You’ve been without one for so long. You need me, Toph.”

For a split second, Toph’s anger dipped down and a sadness filled its place. She tried not to let it bleed through her voice. “You’re right, Mom. I  _ did _ need a mother. I still do. But I will never know what it’s like. I will never know what it’s like to be loved unconditionally by the woman who gave birth to me. You couldn’t offer that to me before I left; you can’t offer it to me now.”

Toph slipped her hands beneath the desk. They were trembling and she didn’t want her parents to see. A laugh slipped out of her mouth unexpectedly. Poppy and Lao looked uneasy and took an imperceivable step back. But Toph felt it.

“Do you know how much you messed me up?” Toph asked. “Do you know how long it took before I stopped trying to do everything myself? Stopped trying to  _ prove myself _ at every turn? It’s a good thing my friends were so persistent with loving me, because I didn’t make it easy.” 

She was still laughing but now tears started to trickle down her cheeks. She didn’t need to blink to squeeze them out. They just fell.

“How...how am I supposed to make a family one day? How am I supposed to be a mom? All I know how to do is fight and break things! Every time I say  _ no _ to my kid, I’ll think of you. I won’t do that. I can’t.” Toph quickly wiped her cheeks. A possible version of her life flashed before her; one that filled her with anxiety. Another broken family of her own making. She couldn’t fix everything about herself right away, but she wouldn’t pass it down to someone else. Not if she could help it.

She did not want that life.

Poppy and Lao were silent. For the first time, they didn’t say a word. Lao was steaming, waiting for his moment where he could jump in and contradict everything. Poppy, however, was starting to cry. 

Toph took a deep breath. She had said her piece. It was time to finish this.

“My friends raised me, but you despise them. Uncle cares for me, but you would rather have me never see him again for the sake of your reputation. You will sign this paper and make it official, but I stopped being your daughter a  _ long  _ time ago.”

Toph didn’t have anything left to say. Poppy took a small step forward. Lao didn’t move. Toph held her breath as her mother slowly picked up the quill on the desk.

“What are you doing?” Lao asked, reaching out and grabbing Poppy’s arm. 

“I’m letting her go, Lao,” Poppy said. “Even if I think she’s wrong, I’ve already lost her.  _ We’ve _ already lost her. Can’t you see that?”

“No,” Lao said. “I will not let her go just because she is an ultra-powerful teenage girl with hormonal mood swings! Once we sign, we can’t take it back. I won’t be a failure.”

“If you don’t sign, King Kuei will make it  _ very _ hard for you to conduct business,” Toph said. “Oh, and by the way, I’ve saved his life and Bosco’s, so he owes me.”

“Bosco?” Lao asked.

“His bear,” Toph clarified. “And when you save the bear...well, let’s just say I have the eternal gratitude of a king. He’s not bluffing.”

Lao frowned. He had read the note at the bottom of the letter, but he fully believed Toph would never know about it. He tore up the letter, and Toph couldn’t read. 

“Not to mention Fire Lord Zuko and his uncle will do everything they can to help King Kuei follow through on his promise. If you don’t sign, your precious company goes belly up,” Toph added for good measure. 

Lao scowled and snatched the quill out of Poppy’s hand. He bent and quickly signed the bottom of the paper. Once he was done, Poppy signed right beside him. 

“Congratulations,” Lao said dryly. “You’re a ward of the state.”

Toph leaned forward and grabbed the binder. The ink was already dry and she tucked the entire packet under her arm. 

“No, actually I’m not,” Toph said as she stood up. It was time to make her exit but she wanted to make sure her parents knew this  _ one last thing. _ “My adoption papers have already been submitted to the Earth Kingdom courts. The second you signed these papers I officially became the daughter of a different Earth Kingdom resident, authorized and approved by the king.”

“You...you’re adopted?” Lao stammered.

“By who?” Poppy asked. Toph smiled.

“He’s a very respectable citizen who owns a tea shop and lives in the upper ring of Ba Sing Se. His name is Iroh.” Toph paused and let the words sink in.

Her parents had just signed their rights over Toph to the man they despised. Lao was speechless and Poppy had a hand over her heart. Toph could feel her father shake.

“You know him as the Dragon of the West,” Toph finished, “but I call him Uncle.”

Lao lunged, reaching for the packet under Toph’s arm, but she quickly trapped his feet in the floor of the study. She calmly walked around the edge of the desk and stepped through the rubble of the broken wall.

She paused and squeezed the packet of papers to her chest. “Goodbye, Poppy and Lao Beifong.”

~0~0~0~

It was a long walk back into Gaoling, but Toph felt light as a feather. She had retrieved her bag from her old room and had more than enough money to get back to Ba Sing Se. She headed straight for the communication tower in town.

“What’s the message?” the boy at the counter asked. Toph grinned.

“Just two words. Coming Home.” 

The boy smiled back at her and quickly scrawled out the message. “He’ll get it in less than two days,” he assured her. 

Toph left the communication tower and headed straight for a small tea shop. Her stomach was very empty and she needed some food if she was going to travel all night.

She wasn’t going to spend a second longer in this town than she had to. It was well past midnight when Toph returned to the road again. She didn’t rush. The night air blew lightly down the empty path. Not cold enough to make her shiver, not warm enough to go without her cloak. For the first time ever, she was completely free. 

Light danced over the horizon as Toph finally walked back into Nuhwa. She was exhausted, but managed to find out when the next blimp would be coming. She bought a ticket then shuffled over to an empty bench in the marketplace and collapsed. 

This was as good as any place for a nap.

She closed her eyes.

_ Toph. _

She snapped them back open. No one was around that she could sense. She had been without sleep for too long; she was starting to dream up stuff. She closed her eyes again.

_ Toph. _

Toph opened her eyes again. She was sure that wasn’t in her head that time. There still wasn’t anyone around, but curiosity got the best of her. She got up and started wandering down the street. The closer she got to the edge of town the more energized she felt. 

By the time she got to the main archway leading into town she was wide awake. There was something pulling at her. Calling to her. She couldn’t tell what or who it was, but she was suddenly overtaken with the urge to run into the forest as fast as she could.

Stranger things had happened to her. Toph tightened her pack around her shoulders then earthbended herself forward. 

The town disappeared behind her. There was nothing but trees. Trees and vines and plants that got in her way and threatened to grab her or trip her. Somehow, she evaded them all. The smell in the air changed. It was clean and earthy, and Toph felt right at home.

The call pulled at her harder. She stepped in water, but waded through it anyway. She had to be a quarter way into the swamp at this point.

“Hahahaha!”

A laugh echoed through the branches and Toph stopped in her tracks.

_ She knew that laugh. _

She had spent the past three years of her life around that laugh. Toph’s breath caught in her chest and she pushed forward. 

“Aang!” she screamed. “Where are you?”

The swamp connected her to the world unlike any other piece of earth had ever before. She could see clearer and farther than she ever had in her life.

But she still couldn’t see him.

The laugh danced through the swamp and bounced off the surface of the water that flowed in its own tangled web throughout the beautiful landscape. It was closer this time.

Toph was out of breath, but she kept running. She had to be getting closer. She kept going until she stepped out into a clearing. The base of the largest tree she had ever felt in her life was stretched out before her. 

_ The banyan-grove tree.  _

She was standing in the center of the swamp. The laugh did not come again and Toph sank to her knees. The rush of adrenalin was gone and her exhaustion returned.

Sokka had told her how the swamp played tricks on people. That’s all this was. One, big, nasty, cruel trick. There were no footsteps, no other human beings. There was just her and the swamp and the feeling of absolute seclusion. 

There was no Aang.

It was getting late and Toph stood up. If she didn’t hurry back she might miss her flight. The wind swirled around the base of the tree and ruffled the baby hairs at the base of her neck as she turned around.

She took one step forward when she felt it.

The softest, almost imperceivable footstep. It came out of nowhere, like it had dropped out of the sky.

_ Like it had dropped out of the sky. _

Toph held her breath. She wasn’t ready for this to be another trick. The movement was behind her, but Toph refused to turn around. She’d been through enough. It was time to go home. 

She felt a second step. The swamp had drawn her in with laughter before, but this was different. This couldn’t be a trick.

_ Twinkletoes. _

“Hi Toph.”

Toph turned around. Standing before her, taller than a year ago, and very real on all counts, was  _ Aang. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's where I end it ladies and gentlemen. This arc will finish in Aang Alone. I loved this story so much. Since I relate to Aang the least it has been the hardest story to write so far. I have been writing the Discovering Destiny series nonstop since August 2020 and 250K words later... I just really need a break from avatar. I'm still writing (check out my Purple Hyacinth stuff. It's a webcomic that NEEDS and DESERVES more attention. I'm writing an adaptation of the comic just for the heck of it) I just need a break from these characters for a little bit. Thank you both old and new readers. I hope you've enjoyed the series thus far.
> 
> As for my opinion on the new avatar-centered studio...I have little faith because I think Bryan and Michael struggle without Aaron Ehasz to do good storytelling. But that's just me. 
> 
> Leave me a final comment and I'll see you later this summer after a much-needed break!


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